Voyagers Saga: Broken Nest
by Cydra
Summary: Exiled from their own universe, a group of travelers have crashed unto an unfamiliar Earth. Keeping their secret from the locals is going to be the least difficult of their problems, especially with their ship and crew scattered. Not to mention the secrets that this world itself possesses. Later chapters are rated T.
1. The Mid-Guardian Serpent

**Voyagers Saga**

**Broken Nest**

**Chapter 1: The Mid-Guardian Serpent**

'Welcome back to Consortium Sanctioned News. Our top story again: fighting has intensified between rival NSC factions in the wake of the successful Empire missile strike that hit an emergency session 2 weeks ago. The board of directors has recommended that all ships avoid NSC space and the uncharted sectors until an all-clear is given...'

After the harrowing escape from McNeil's coup, spirits were down on the Bladestorm, particularly with the experiments.

"I can't believe you tried to ditch us on Hawaii. Using that teleporter to beam most of us back was a dirty trick," snapped Draco.

"You guys would have been better off on Earth," said Matt, "There aren't going to be many safe havens now. You think I could have dragged you all into a civil war?"

"We've always stuck together," said Contrinus accusingly.

"And we always try to keep ourselves safe. Which is why you should stayed back on Earth. Half of the galaxy is probably gunning for us," said Matt.

"Coming out of Null, negative contact on scopes. I think we're clear," said Techo's voice on the intercom.

"Keep your guard up. I'm not taking any chances," said Matt.

"Ok, looks like we're over an earthlike. It'd be passable as Earth if it wasn't for the second moon.

"Based on past experience, if an Earth-like world has more than one moon, it probably falls into the 'fantasy' category," said Chip.

"Better go look. I'm headed to the bridge, Techo," said Matt, saying the last part into the intercom.

...

...Guardian system online...

Unauthorized vessel detected…class 4 technology

Attempting to warn vessel away...compliance failure detected...deploying to combat mode in T Minus 5

...

The Bladestorm slowly sailed by the second moon, no one onboard noticing as it began to uncurl.

If they had checked the planet below, they'd have noticed the tidal changes were starting much too early and seem to be a bit more extreme than usual.

...

Matt walked onto the bridge and saw the comm screen flashing with a message. He looked at it to see a load of Atlantean gibberish. "Hey, how long has this been flashing?" he asked, spotting the only word he recognized, indicating 'hostility'.

"Uh, for the last few seconds," said Techo, "For all I know, it's an old ad for crystals or something."

"Warning...impact alert," said WARDEN before a resounding crash threw everyone to the floor.

"Techo, if we survive, I'm going to have you learn to read Atlantean," said Matt as he got back up.

"What the hell is that thing? It's bloody huge!" yelled Chloe as a huge shadowy shape seemed to swim through space in front of the ship, a single huge red optic staring at them before it flew forward again.

"I know robots don't normally have stomachs, but I feel compelled to say GET US OUT OF HERE BEFORE IT EATS US!" yelled Matt.

"Can't...that last hit literally broke off the jump boosters. FTL is down and we need another hour before we can null-jump," said Techo.

"Wake Alice up...and get the North Star. Chloe, you take that, we'll fight it then."

...

The experiments and Kala looked around in horror as the battle stations siren shrieked, Alice and her pilots running past.

"What the smeg is going on?" asked Draco.

"I'm not certain if I want to find out," said Contrinus.

Another crash threw them off and Matts yell over the intercom said, "Oh, bloody hell, it's a giant metal space snake! I KNEW THEY EXISTED!"

"I am not having great confidence in our captain right now," said NegaMorph.

...

The North Star slowly flew out of the Bladestorm, currently caught in one of the machine's magnetic coils, flanked by every Starfury on board. "North Star to alpha flight, let that tin can have it," said Chloe's voice, before the North Star's torpedoes and the Starfuries opened fire, causing the machine to lose interest in the Bladestorm and chase them, smashing a Starfury with a swipe as they peeled off.

The other Starfuries started pelting its hull with torpedoes until several panels around its 'head' extended out and folded aside to allow a pair of cannons to flip out.

...

Matt pointed, spotting that. "Main guns, fire!" he yelled pointing.

...

The Bladestorm's MAC railguns blazed, their heavy shells slamming the machine who roared soundlessly, before a white beam lanced out of its optic, blasting clean through the Bladestorm's midsection.

...

"Warning, hull breach, warning, fracture of superstructure, warning, orbit failing," rang out the computer.

"Shit, Techo!" yelled Matt.

Techo, pulling himself up on a computer looked at the damage report. "Do you want the good news or the bad news?" he asked.

"There's only one bad news?" asked Matt a bit sarcastically.

"The good planet down there's Earth," said Techo, mock cheerfully.

"And the bad?" asked Matt.

"We're gonna explode in 3 minutes," said Techo in a deadpan voice.

"That it would come to this," muttered Matt before activating the intercom, "All hands abandon ship. Get to the lifepods."

WARDEN said "Hey, what about me?"

Matt looked around before saying manically, "Good news, you're now the captain and captains go down with the ship...bye now!" before running out after the rest of the crew

Matt ran round a corner, just in time as an explosion forced the bulkhead to the bridge to drop. "Kala, what the hell, get on a pod," he said.

"There are still more people that need to get out," said Kala before pausing to absorb some of the flames from the recent explosion.

"I don't care. Get off this ship NOW!" snapped Matt before the ship shook again.

"Alert...exterior pressure rising...structure fields failing in sections 12 through 18 all decks," said the computer.

"But the crew..."

"Kala, you can't save everyone. There's no time to wait, get into a pod," said Matt.

"Warning: Core breach in progress. 3 minutes to detonations...all regular crew pods now launched. Exec pod remaining," said the computer. Matt sighed, knowing both that the captain's escape pod was a single seater...and that Kala would insist he take it. So he was personally regretting his only course of action as he set his blaster to neural stun.

"Matt, what are you..." started Kala before Matt shot her, causing her to fall over in a daze.

Matt caught her and said, "Sorry, but you're getting off this ship, willing or not."

"No...wait..." she managed as Matt dropped her into the pod and stepped outside it to launch. "Don't worry, there's still some fighters aboard. I'll use one of them. Happy landings," he said, not adding that he wasn't sure about the fighter situation.

...

Damage report: 65% armor impaired

Scanning...no FTL capabilities detected in remaining vessels

Assessment: Switching to containment protocols

Standing down to repair mode

Error, magnetic coil three unable to decouple, ship core destruction within 3 cycles

Chances of destruction 99.7%

...

Matt pulled on the controls as collateral wreckage from the front section, flying over him began pelting the fleeing ships, a few more pods falling prey. "Crapcrapcrap!" he swore, swerving around before calling the others, "Is everyone ok? Sound off."

"This is Alice, we lost two ships while keeping that space snake's attention, but the rest are ok," said Alice's voice.

"North Star. We took a few hits from debris and WARDEN's download failed. We'll have to ground the ship if we can't get another AI," said Chloe's voice before another male voice said "This is Captain Mendiz, we lost 22% of the pods in flight...and 40% of the crew didn't get off the ship..." Matt sighed. He knew losing a ship often meant losing much of the crew, but it still was a hard blow to him.

"The front section's...gonna splash down in the Mediterranean, no chance of collateral. Looks like a good to land just off the Norway coast," said Mendiz before he let out a swear. "Shit...looks like your pod auto launched without you. It's taken damage and it's off course. Just as well it wasn't used, eh?"

There was a brief pause of shock before Matt yelled, "GET THAT POD!" so loudly everyone got feedback.

...

Kala looked out the viewport in the escape pod to see the planet rushing up to meet her with frightening speed. _'Ok, so I'm doomed. Even if I live, I'll be trapped lord knows where...'_ she thought.

"You will live, but not without...complications," said a voice out of nowhere.

Kala turned and jumped when she saw a man in a black business suit. "What are you doing here?" demanded Kala.

"Oh please, you think Mr. Lynch hallucinates me?" said the figure.

"Wait, you're that Ancient guy, the one that shows up only when Matt's in dire danger," said Kala, her panic escalating.

"Yes...but there's always a price. Now if you died, he'd almost certainly turn homicidal within a few months...and we can't have that," said Mr. Black, with an evil smirk.

"Ok, there's obviously a catch. What's the catch?" demanded Kala.

"Oh, you'll find out," said Mr. Black, summoning what looked like a baseball bat, "And the best thing is...I don't need to use any energy on you...just make sure you're asleep."

Kala glared. "Don't you da-" she said before being cut off by a 'bonk'.

...

At a certain island in the Northern Sea, the villagers were watching the spectacular light show that was happening in the sky. Though some people were having different reactions than others.

Mulch sighed as Bucket screamed about Ragnarok again. "Bucket, it's not the end of the world. No snake for a start," he said calmly before another hail of shots went by with a deafening whistling noise

Just then, several columns of water shot up with a loud splash. "What's going on?" demanded Stoick.

"My guess is the gods and giants are going at it again and their teeth are being knocked out and they're falling down to Midgard," said Gobber. The others gave him a slightly odd look. "Well, it's only a guess," said Gobber.

A slowly rising noise was heard before a fireball parted the clouds and lit up the village as it passed overhead, before exploding against the mountain's summit. Through the opened clouds a cluster of similar fireballs could be seen closing at high speed.

"Uh, is it me, or are those flaming pieces of metal coming down from the sky?" asked Hiccup.

"Well, they don't look stone, certainly not bones," said Gobber.

"I don't care if they're made of seashells, everyone needs to get to safety before they hit," said Stoick. As if to force the point, one of the chunks hit an empty storage hut blasting it apart, while another two hit the harbor, causing columns of water that tops the old defense towers with ease. "Get to the caves, we should be safe enough there," ordered Stoick.

However, most of the pieces seemed to have stopped, except for one which seemed to be trying to change direction.

...

"Warning...stabilizer two failure...trajectory alteration required," said the AI urgently, as if the sound of flames from outside was enough to tell Kala she was in trouble. However, something was wrong with her limbs. She couldn't seem to get them forwards like she wanted. It was like being in dragon form, but something was different. "Alert...reality field: Type 7 detected...localized pulse. Reality generators offline...terrain alert," said the AI desperately, before a forest loomed up.

Kala yelped before flinging herself forward, within reach of the control panel. However, as she reached out her paw, she noticed her skin was black and the leg was differently shaped than before. _'What the...survival now, panic attack later,'_ she thought before clumsily punching a code in.

"Incorrect...please re-enter code or attempt voice ident," said the computer calmly

_"This is Kala Triseptus!"_ yelled Kala, but it only came out as a roar.

"Please pronounce Ident clearly." said the computer calmly as the pod shook, clipping a tree

_"This is Kala Tri...smeg it!_" snapped Kala, getting only animalistic roaring and trying to put the code in again.

"Security alert...attempting uplink to Bladestorm...ERROR...system alter...deadlocking pod for retrieval," said the computer before with a resounding crash, the pod suddenly span, having hit a more resistant tree and was now pinwheeling through the air. This of course sent Kala tumbling around her pod like clothes in a washing machine.

The pod finally came to rest, a trickle of water coming in. _"Urgh...that was an unpleasant ride,"_ she moaned weakly. The deadlock feature had been Chloe's idea, to stop any intruders escaping off ship...and was geared for hybrids. She tried to get to her feet, but her body didn't seem able to rise any higher than a quadrupedal position.

"Danger...power core overload detected...shutting down." Considering that loss of power means loss of life support and this pod was airtight, this meant Kala couldn't mess around with the control panel now and she really needed to get out. So she decided to see if she still had her fire breath. A try of the usual exhale failed. _"Oh nonononono,"_ she muttered, pushing against the hatch and actually feeling it strain to hold. Inspired, she pushed even harder against it.

The straining got worse, the sound of air getting in sounding with a reptilian hiss before, with a metallic pop, it gave way. Kala tried to crawl through, but she soon found her wings were open too wide to let her pass...and did she have more than one pair? Backing up, she folded them tighter around her before crawling out. _"Ok, now that I'm not going to die from a deadly crash or asphyxiation, let's see what the damage is,"_ she said before trying to get a good look of herself.

She hopped down to be almost up to her neck in water, looking around to see the pod had smashed down in some 'bowl' in the rocks, the pod already sinking into the mud.

However the show stopper was her reflection...

Kala screamed which fittingly came out as a roar as she was some time of feral dragon. _"This is not happening,"_ she gibbered, looking at the almost catlike blue eyes staring back. She tried to stand up, but her salamander-like body was clearly meant to be a quadruped and not even flapping her four wings could help. The best she could do was sit on her rear legs and 'waddle' along. _"This is going to be one of these days,"_ she said darkly.

_"Ok, so I had a bad reentry that's overwritten my personal reality field. It's not irreversible. I'll just the others and they can get me a reality shield. I'm sure they'd recognize me, especially Matt,"_ she said to herself. She flapped her wings and managed to get off the ground, but the aerodynamics of this form was quite different from her own. Still, she at least managed to spot a town before she ended up falling back down. _"Ok...ow...I hate everything,"_ she said, her face muffled from having landed in the mud.

...

The town looked surprisingly busy, though a few people noticed her and didn't seem bothered. Her audio translators were luckily still working, though the nanites happily explained that her vocal cords were 'incompatible with Atlantean mecha-guild tech'. This at least allowed her to understand that they were calling her 'Toothless' for some reason.

She was pretty sure she still had her full set of teeth. She ran her tongue over her gums but didn't feel anything particularly toothy...

'Shik'!

Kala's eyes went bug eyed at that as her teeth shot out and bit her. Kala gave a yelp and jumped back in surprise, causing her to fall over herself. _"Doobib teeb...WAB DA HELB?"_ she said, yelling the last part.

"Does Toothless seem to be a bit...off today?" asked one of the nearby villagers.

Kala glared and said _"Oh foob oo, abbole,"_ before trotting past them, her nose smelling something tasty. She quickly made her way towards the docks where she soon spotted the source of the delectable smell: fish, very fresh fish, some of them were still gaping and flopping. _"I could smell that? No...just no,"_ she said, her stomach supplying a counterargument.

One of the fishermen spotted her and called, "Hey Toothless, care for a treat?" He tossed one fish to Kala and despite her mental protests, her instincts made her catch the fish in her mouth.

One quick swallow later and, despite the lovely taste all over her tongue, the only think in her head was the following: _'EWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEW!' _Worst of all, she was hungry for more and her stomach was winning out over her brain.

As everyone who knew Kala or experiments knew, a experiments, even an ex-one's hunger urges were always top of the list, meaning she immediately lunged at one of the fish baskets with all the self-control of Matt in the armory.

"Hey, hey, save some for the rest of the village," said the fisherman.

_"Quiet, eating,"_ muttered Kala aimlessly, her eyes actually going cross-eyed.

"Odd, he's acting like hasn't eaten anything all day," said another fisherman.

"We better get Hiccup before his dragon eats up all the catch," said the first.

"What?" said a voice behind them, the fishermen turning to see a kid walking round the corner before pausing as a green eyed version of Kala's head peered round the corner.

The fishermen turned to look from the dragon eating their catch to the one besides the boy. "Did I get hit on the head again?" asked one of the fishermen, rubbing around the bucket on his head, "I'm seeing double."

_"I said QUIET, EATING!"_ snapped Kala, manically, one of her eyes twitching from the experiment instinct fueled food binge.

"I don't believe it," said the boy, "Another Night Fury. I thought Toothless was the only one around here."

_"For the last smegging time...EXPERIMENT HYBRID EATING HERE!"_ snapped Kala.

"Uh, Hiccup, I know it's a bad idea to get between a dragon and its meal, but this one's meal is starting to get out of control," said the shorter fisherman.

_"Finally some sense,"_ said Kala sarcastically, actually swallowing an eel without noticing. That's when her stomach gave another kind of gurgle, the unhappy kind. _"Oh no,"_ moaned Kala before the eel made a return journey.

The humans looked away with disgust as Kala's recently-eaten lunch became...uneaten. _"Urgh...I think I threw up my spleen,"_ groaned Kala.

"Ok, I think it's appetite will settle down for a while," said the boy, "We probably ought to take her to the academy."

_"Say what?"_ said Kala dully, looking up with a dull look.

"I dunno, she won't like being in a cage," said the fisherman with the bucket.

_"You can bet your patookie I wouldn't. First person to touch me gets swallowed,"_ Kala snapped before seeing the other dragon's expression and saying defensively, _"I'd spit them out again."_

"Bucket, you're not supposed to mention the c-word," said the shorter fisherman.

"What? Cage?" asked Bucket.

_"Just you wait till my bushi bu catches up. He has a temper that 'blast radius' applies to,"_ said Kala smugly

Just then, she heard another voice saying, "Alright, what's all this about a ravenous dragon? Oh, lookee here, another Night Fury. Didn't think there were any besides Toothless."

"Uh, yeah, and we need to get it to-" started the boy.

"Say no more, I've got what we need," said the voice before Kala heard a swinging sound. She turned just in time to see a man missing his left hand and right leg throw a bolos at her. Unfortunately for the bola thrower, Kala had spent the last year being shot at with things far worse than bola's, easily deflecting it with her tail before sitting down. _"Really?!"_ she said

"Smart one," said the bola thrower, "I guess I'll need to get out the big ones for this dragon."

_"Big ones?"_ said Kala, in a worried tone. The one-legged man reached into his cart and pulled out a large weapon that looked like a disturbing mix of sword, axe, and mace. _"What...the...hell...is...THAT?"_ said Kala, backing up.

"Gobber..." said the boy.

"Relax, I just figured we could herd into the corral by making seem like the only safe place to go," said the one-handed man.

_"Hey look, it's the Titanic!"_ called Kala, trying to point behind them.

The trick was lost in 'translation' as Gobber calmly walked forward. "Alright, beastie, hold still..." said Gobber before holding up the scary weapon over her head.

Kala simply screamed and shot in the opposite direction, stopping briefly at the corner and, unable to resist, calling _"MEEGA NALA QUEESTA!"_ before a bola knocked her into the wall. _"Bugger,"_ she swore.

"Got it," said Gobber before grabbing the rope and said "Alright, let's haul this thing to the academy."

Kala glared. _"Oh, just you wait,"_ she muttered as she was dragged along before glaring at Toothless. _"You could help, you know,"_ she said, taking a gamble that he could understand.

Toothless looked at her before saying, _"I may have been away from my kind of a long time, but I think there's something wrong with you and I think Hiccup better have a look at you."_

_"I'm not a dragon! I used to have thumbs! THUUUUMBS!"_ gibbered Kala, yelling the last word as she was dragged round the corner by the one called Gobber.

Toothless shook his head and muttered, _"Mental."_

...

Matt looked around the makeshift camp that had sprung up around the North Star. The ship had landed at an almost completely frozen island that wasn't on any maps from this Earth's history. Of course, the crew had more than enough insulation tents, heat packs, and winter survival gear to make living at this camp bearable. But there was plenty of dark muttering about how cold it was.

"We coulda flown to Hawaii or America, where it's _warm_?" complained Draco, bitterly while wrapped up in so many coats that he looked like a very strange teddy.

"Zip it, reptile," snapped Chris.

"I'm as zipped as can be and I'm still freezing," snapped Draco.

"That's because you missed one," said Chris before zipping Draco's hood shut.

"Thanks Chris. Someone tell me we have links on the missing pods. Last thing we need is a Viking finding an AR12 plasma rifle," said Matt.

Chip, who had to take the missing WARDEN's place in the AI core, said, "Our scanning systems were badly damaged during the escape. Currently, I can't scan any further away than two miles. There is some debris in the water but nothing very important."

"Then turn off the engines and reroute power. Kala's out there somewhere and I am going to find her before she freezes to death," snapped Matt angrily.

There was a softening hum as the engines died down before Chip said, "Scanner range has tripled and I've detected more than a few identifiable parts of the ship. I also have a weak signal that has a 66% chance of being her pod."

"Where is it?" snapped Matt angrily.

"An island to the southwest, apparently it's called 'Berk'," said Chip.

"Ok, inhabitants?" said Matt, the others noting his cold tone and how his eyes were faintly glowing.

"Humans, Norsemen most likely given the area and time period," said Chip, "I've got another type of life reading, but it's too varied to identified."

"Bind it down, use a DNA scanner. Ok, if there are humans there, we need a plan. The ship's too unreliable to fly there...plus we'd cause panic," said Matt.

"DNA scanner's crashed, I need more time to get the mainframe operational," said Chip, "But as for getting there, I'd say a boat would be the least conspicuous means of transportation."

"Sure...we'll use the boat I've got up my ARSE!" snapped Techo, who was still recovering from his gem blast that Diana had caused and as a result was shivering.

"That would certainly explain your bad attitude," said Chip.

Techo glared and pressed the mute button, grinning. "I like this part...hey, what's that?" he said, pointing down at the beach below the cliff they were on.

Matt looked down to see what looked like an old Viking boat. It had probably ended up being knocked onto the rocks by a storm, but there seemed to be enough pieces to work with. "Seems fixable. Turn Chip's voice system back on so I can ask if the nanoforges are online. We need disguises," said Matt.

As soon as Chip was contacted, he said, "Sorry, even if the nanoforges were on, I couldn't help. Apparently, one of the few things they can't make is fur, not even fake fur. I think it has something to do with an animal rights committee."

"Override: 1124 nanoforge...uniform protocol," said Matt.

"Override accepted, processing uniforms," said Chip in an emotionless monotone.

Contrinus gave Matt a shocked look and said, "What did you do to him?"

"System override, we need those disguises, he'll be fine," said Matt, walking off.

...

However, the produced uniforms were less than favorable. "What kind of cheap costume is this?" asked Chloe, holding the cloth and plastic imitation of a fur cloak, "I've seen better costumes at my high school's plays."

"Hey, I'm a computer hacker, not a tailor," said Chip, "I told you the nanoforge couldn't produce realistic fur."

"Guys, ship approaching!" yelled a trooper.

"Smeg, bloody marauders again," snapped Chloe.

"No, an actual ship, they look pissed."

"Too bad, I'm more pissed," said Chloe, her hand cracking with electricity, "They're probably pirates anyways. Let's sink them."

Matt walked in at that. "No, I got a better plan. Let's introduce ourselves while we get the 'do not disturb' signs up," he said, grinning sinisterly.

...

The Outcast search party has been rowing all morning and was starting to get cranky. They've only found a few pieces of 'sky metal' and Alvin's sure to want more than that.

"Hey, look up there," said their lookout, to where an unnatural metal construct could be barely seen in the swirling snow.

"What do you think it is?" asked another.

"Maybe it's a piece of giant's armor," said a third.

"Whatever it is, it'll be enough to make armor for all of us," said Savage, "To your oars, men."

...

The island itself was creepy, the cliff itself, under the ice looked unnaturally smooth and uniform grey. A few pieces of ice fell down from the top of the cliff and scrabblings were heard in the snowstorm.

"There's something not right about this island," said one of the Outcasts.

"It's got evil written all over it," said another.

"Alvin'll have our hides if we go back empty handed," snapped Savage.

"Hey, look there," said the lookout, pointing to an incline in the ice that was ridged and level enough to allow them to walk up.

"I dunno, boss, this looks too easy," said another Outcast, looking up the incline and noticing how one of the steps was steaming.

"If you want to go up the hard way, be my guest," said Savage.

"Fine, ok, let's move. I heard stories about this place," said the worried Outcast.

"What, you think trolls live here?" teased another Outcast.

"No, I heard there were gods here, with machines that could work themselves, machines that could shatter axes and shrug off even dragons," said the Outcast, looking in the shadows, before looking up and jumping as he saw a hooded figure duck back.

"Right, next you're gonna say they have monsters for pets that are nastier and uglier than any dragon," said Savage.

"No, some of 'em were monsters," said the Outcast, peering over the top and gulping, seeing several tents scattered around.

"Curses, looks like someone's beaten us here," said Savage, "Round them up. Alvin's not inclined to sharing."

There was a fwip noise and one of the Outcasts fell back with an oof.

"What was that?" demanded Savage.

"I dunno, I think it-" began another before another 'fwip' was heard and he slumped over, something the size of a stone striking him on the forehead.

"Who's out there?" demanded Savage, "Show yourselves!"

Three more 'fwips' were heard, three more Outcasts, leaving only a half dozen left. A creepy voice said "Someone's trespassing on my property," in a Saxon-accented voice...but in fluent Norse.

"Your property? This is our territory so everything here belongs to us," snapped Savage.

"Nope, try again," said the voice, echoing from the snowstorm that was picking up again.

"If this is your property, you wouldn't mind fighting man to man for it," said Savage.

"Fine, if we win, we get your cloaks, jackets, stuff like that. We'll let you keep your boat though," said the voice, a figure walking out of the snow, wearing a silvery coat with a fur hood.

"And when we win, we're taking your sky metal and tossing you all into the sea," said Savage.

"Oh, you won't win. I presume anything goes?" said the figure, amused.

"No holding back," said Savage holding up his bone like a club.

"Good," said the voice, his arm seeming to ripple before his other pulled out another blade. "Come and play, dufus," said the figure.

Savage let out a battle cry and ran towards the figure, readying to club him over the head. The figure simply sidestepped, slapping Savage's wrist with his blade's flat. "Oh, so close," the figure said, a disturbingly sharp toothed grin visible under the hood. However, Savage was too worked up to really care as he tried to pummel the stranger. The figure simply dodged and weaved before the bone hit him across the arm, shattering. "Ok, now I'm annoyed, that chipped a scale," said the figure sternly.

Savage looked dumbfounded at his broken bone before saying, "Who are you?"

"Not telling, but this is my camp...and you aren't welcome," said the figure, readying his blade.

Savage quickly lost his nerve and dropped to his knees crying, "Mercy!"

"Fine, the winnings please?" said the figure.

However, Savage suddenly grabbed the stranger's legs and pulled them out from under him, making him fall over. "Ha, like you said, anything goes," said Savage, "Now let's see how ugly you really are." He grabbed the stranger's hood and yanked it back.

Staring back at him was a blue scaled muzzled face. "Boo," said the figure with a toothy grin before kicking Savage back and whistling, several mounds in the show rising to reveal more figures, armed with metal sticks. "Anyone else want to tumble a bit?" asked the stranger.

"No," said one of the Outcasts, taking his coat off as fast as he could and throwing it forward, more so as a mountain of a man raised out the snow next to them. The others quickly threw in their coats. "There, all yours," said the first Outcast as he turned to leave.

However, the colossal man grabbed him and said, "Uh, uh, uh, that wasn't all you wagered."

"Wait...what else do you want?" said the Outcast, screaming like a girl as the man lifted him up without any effort.

The man held him up to his face before saying, "Your pants, please."

"Matt, Xander, no, we're not taking the pants. We don't know where they've been. No...scratch that. I can smell where they've been," said a female voice.

"Aw, but I really wanted to humiliate them," said the stranger.

"No...just no," said another voice.

The figure sighed, "Fine...leave the coats and sod off. If you come back, I'll eat you." To make the point clear, the giant tossed the outcast he was holding out into the sea. "Bye-bye," said the figure, waving and causing the outcasts to leg it. They quickly got back to their boat and started rowing like Ragnarok was right around the corner.

"Nice, now we got samples for the nanoforge," said Matt as soon as the boat was gone.

"I didn't think it worked that way," said Draco.

"It can...for short runs," said Matt, tossing the coats and the hat Savage had left behind to a couple of the spiderbots from the North Star.

"How long till that boat works, do you think?" Chloe sighed.

"It's a boat, it couldn't be harder to repair than a starship," said Matt.

"DON'T JINX IT!" yelled Draco.

...

Kala never liked being put in a cage and being put in one while being thought of as a dumb animal was particularly demeaning. _"LET ME OUT OF HERE!"_ she yelled, trying to gnaw on the bars. Unfortunately, it seems her dragon strength was only so great in this form as all she mainly got was some sore gums.

Finally she spotted the kid from earlier and that 'Toothless' guy. _"Oi...get me out!"_ she called.

However, Hiccup was oblivious to Kala's yelling. "Wow, Toothless, another Night Fury here on Berk. And a female, no less. I mean, what are the chances?"

Kala went bug eyed at that. _"Watch it, cheeky!"_ she snapped.

"She does seem pretty wound up though," said Hiccup.

_"I woke up thumbless after my ship exploded. HOW WOULD YOU FEEL?"_ snapped Kala.

"I think we better keep her in there until she's calmed down. Maybe give her some dragonnip," said Hiccup.

_"Oh, not a chance. I am not spending one more night in this cage,"_ said Kala, her eye twitching before glaring at Toothless, _"Get me out or I'll make you suffer when I get out myself."_

_"They mean well, they're just worried how dangerous you are when you're all riled up like this,"_ said Toothless.

_"Dangerous? I'm not dangerous but my boyfriend is. He'll blow a gasket if he sees me like this,"_ said Kala, smugly.

_"And where is he?"_ asked Toothless.

_"Coming,"_ said Kala with an evil grin. Toothless lifted his ear flaps and looked around, not looking convinced. _"Oh, he's not here...yet. But we were all headed for the same area. Which means he's...at least...say...30 or 40 km away?"_ said Kala, at a rough estimate. Toothless gave a snort of disbelief. _"Oh, many people make that mistake. I've seen him slice tanks in half,"_ said Kala happily.

_"Slice what?"_ asked Toothless.

_"Basically cutting rocks in half,"_ said Kala.

_"I have to see that to believe it,"_ said Toothless dismissively.

_"You will, live and in person, NOW GET ME OUT OF HERE!"_ snapped Kala, smashing against the bars

_"Yeah, how about I wait until you sound less crazy before I consider letting you out?"_ said Toothless.

_"It's either let me out or my boyfriend does,"_ said Kala darkly.

_"I'll wait to see if Thor arrives then,"_ said Toothless.

_"Who's Thor?"_ said Kala, confused, _"My boyfriend's name is Matt."_

_"How could you not know who Thor is?"_ asked Toothless.

_"Not from around here...or this planet...or this universe...I've lost you, haven't I?"_ said Kala, her voice dulling.

Toothless gaped before shaking his head and then leaning forward to sniff at Kala. _"You do smell different, but I wasn't really sure."_

_"Well done, now open the smegging door,"_ said Kala dully.

_"Er, I can't, even if I wanted to,"_ said Toothless, _"I can't turn the key."_

_"Then get somebody who CAN! Really...Matt is kinda protective to insane levels,"_ said Kala apologetically

_"I'll try,"_ said Toothless as he followed Hiccup out.

Kala sat back, deciding that all she could do was wait for now.

...

Pretty soon, the boat was in shipshape and the nanoforge had produced enough fur coats for everyone. However, it couldn't make much more than that. "It would seem that there are limitations to how much can produced, at least in terms of animal-based products," said Chip, "I suppose if you were to collect more, I'd be able to forge more."

"We'll just need to be careful," said Matt, who was sitting up near the front of the ship as it sailed past a huge fogbank. "Big fog," he muttered.

"We're in the Northern Seas, that's to be expected," said Chloe.

"Yeah...but it stops too suddenly. You could run a spirit level up that fog bank," said Matt before shrugging, another mystery for another day. "Never mind. Ok, ground rules: all the experiments have to play pet...and no stealing any food that can be missed."

Megan noticed Gary was leaning over the side and asked, "Gary, are you feeling ok?"

"I'm fine," said Gary, "But I think there's something in the water."

"Like what?" said Matt, adding, "Chip, any life reading near us?"

"Well, something, I think, the water is interfering with my scanners," said Chip.

"Ok, thanks Chip," said Matt before walking over to Gary. "It's probably just a whale, Ga-" he said, peering over and pausing as well, a reptilian head peering back. "...That's a weird whale," he said before the two were blasted by a stream of water.

"Thar he blows," said NegaMorph. Matt luckily got some revenge as he landed directly on NegaMorph.

"Gary, what happened?" asked Megan.

"SEA SERPENT!" yelled Gary.

"Yeah...I saw it," moaned Matt from where he had landed.

"Oh please, I don't think we've been out at sea long enough for you to get sea madness," said Chloe. However, the water near the ship was starting to ripple as something started to arise. "I TOLD YOU!" snapped Matt, everyone pulling out a mixture of firearms, the blades they had were cheap knockoffs from the nanoforge.

Suddenly, a long neck that ended with a reptilian head that had had a single horn on its nose and a pelican-like chin came up out of the water and looked down at the boat. "Oh no," said Sue in a shaking voice before asking Draco, "Does this happen often?"

"Well, we do tend to meet dragons, not so much sea dragons on account that Matt hates being near deep water," said Draco.

A second later, a water blast drenched everyone. The dragon smirked before vanishing underwater again with an air of 'that'll teach 'em'. Chloe's teeth chattered as she said, "C-c-c-cold water, n-n-n-not fun."

"YOU JUMPED UP WATER HEA-" yelled Matt only for the dragon to shoot out the water and chomp him, shooting back again, the whole process happening in a blink, though the burp took longer.

"Ok, let's get to land where we can warm up and dry off," said NegaMorph.

On cue, something shot out of the water before the mast shook, everyone looking up to see a pair of legs poking out the crow's nest.

"Took him long enough," said NegaMorph.

"Screw you, NegaMorph," came the reply, NegaMorph's head glowing for a second before pancaking.

"Totally worth it," he rasped.

...

As they reached the island, it became apparent that the sea dragon apparently had some kind of venom. The good news is that Matt's nanites were enough to keep it from being lethal. The bad news is that his head seemed to be a little less screwed on than usual. "Squishy, squishy, squeak," he gibbered, squashing NegaMorph regularly and making him squeak like a dog's chew toy.

"Ok, this is getting really annoying," said NegaMorph, "Can someone make him stop?"

"SILENCE SQUEAKY SQUISH!" snapped Matt, squashing NegaMorph's mouth. Apparently fed up, NegaMorph chomped on Matt with his hand-mouth. "Ow, it bites!" yelled Matt, throwing NegaMorph overboard where the following Scauldron snapped him out the air.

However, unlike Matt, NegaMorph put up a more impressive fight, if the bulges in its chin were anything to judge by. Another spit and NegaMorph vanished over the horizon. "Bye-bye, squeaky...oooh...eaaargh," said Matt, turning green as the nanites finished processing the antidote and applied it, causing him to barf up the poison.

"About time, that squeaking was driving me crazy," said Chris.

"Urrrgh...I hate everything. Are we there yet?" moaned Matt.

"Almost," said Chloe as she tried to adjust the sail, "C'mon, go faster, you stupid thing."

"Target, aerial's closing from port," called a trooper.

"Disguises, guys. Keep the guns down. I can see something on its back," called Matt, jumping down.

From a distance, it looked like a giant manta ray that was flying over the water. But as it got closer, it was obviously a large dragon with an almost-as-large Norseman riding on it.

"Bloody hell," muttered Techo.

The dragon stopped at a hover near their ship as the Norseman called, "You're a long ways away from anywhere. What brings you to Berk?"

"Erm...food...supplies...trade," called Matt carefully.

"There are closer islands," said the Norseman.

"We got lost," said Chloe, "Misleading fogbanks and alike."

"I understand. There's some nasty perils for an unwary ship in that fogbank," said the Norseman.

"Well, since your island's so close, can we make port here?" asked Chloe.

"Fine...as long as you don't mind dragons," came the reply, sounding amused.

"You'd be surprised how much we don't," called Matt.

…

As soon as they got to the harbor, they could see the usual flock of seagulls circling around. But they also spotted another more unusual flock on the docks. "Tiny dragons," pointed Matt desperately.

About 10 small green dragons were watching the ship come in with a sort of vacant walleyed look. "Aw, they look so cute," said Megan. One of the dragons licked its eyeball for a second. "Sort of."

"Yeah, they have the look of spiderbots around them," said Matt carefully

"I've seen Chihuahuas that look and sound more intimidating," said Chris.

The Terrible Terrors all turned to look at Chris at that...in unison.

"Uh, I think they're more intelligent than they look," said Gary.

"Oh please, they're just dumb little-ARRGH!" said Chris, screaming as the Terrible Terrors mobbed him

"The smaller they are, the more easily they can swarm you," said Matt.

The group walked onto the deck, looking around at the town. "Nice, never seen anything like this," muttered Techo, pulling the glove on his cyberarm tighter.

"It's charming, if rustic," said Chloe.

"And weird. I feel like I'm on Avalar again," said Matt, looking around confused and seeing a two-headed dragon peering from a roof.

"I think the dragons on Avalar are a bit more...advanced," said Chloe.

"True, I would have been threatened by now otherwise," said Matt

"Well, as long as we're here, let's get something to eat," said NegaMorph, "I'm famished."

"Ok, see if you can spot the currency here so we can use the currency converter," said Matt quietly.

Gary looked at some of the shops and said, "It looks like they mostly barter here."

"Ok, this might make things harder," said Matt before there was a thud behind him as the Norseman from before landed. "Nice little village you have here," said Matt.

"Thanks, you don't seem surprised to see...oh, you got a dragon of yer own. That some kinda Terrible Terror?" said the Norseman, looking at Draco.

Draco opened his mouth to protest but Matt held it shut. "No, he's a...foreign breed, from a place very far from here. Smarter than he looks, but not by much, OW!" said Matt, the last part from Draco scratching him. "He's...also...very...aggressive," growled Matt through the pain.

"I see, so long as he doesn't cause too much damage around here or try to attack the sheep, I don't have a problem," said the Norseman, "And in case it wasn't obvious, I'm Stoick the Vast, Chieftain of the Hairy Hooligans."

"Matthew the erm...Crazy. Leader of the Temporal Raiders," said Matt, carefully.

"Temple Raiders? You have some pretty big nerves to be attacking places men would be considered holy," said Stoick.

"Er, that's actually..." started Matt.

"Also, I'm pretty sure 'the Crazy' is taken. Was it Carl the Crazy or Bjorn the Crazy?" continued Stoick.

"Oh, he's just playing around with names right now," said Chloe, "Other names in consideration are Matt the Unpredictable, Matt the Mirthful, and Matt Earbreaker."

"Oh har har," said Matt darkly

"It takes a while for the right name to settle," said Stoick, "But you're free to trade for what you need."

"Thanks, mind if I look around?" asked Matt.

"So long as you don't wander off alone. Have to be careful with potential spies and such," said Stoick.

"I'll be careful," said Matt, walking off and muttering "Spies for what?"

...

Eventually, Matt came upon an arena. Or what used to be an arena since the sign over the door said 'Berk Dragon Academy'.

"Well, this would count," he muttered, his nanites scanning.

"Anomalous lifesign detected in zone," said the voice of the nano-AI. Matt shrugged and walked inside, a single barred cell at the far end. "Cell consists of high tensile iron with stone-reinforced superstructure, possibly graded for draconics," said the AI.

"What the?" he muttered, walking forward before jumping back as a pair of blue reptilian eyes shot open. "Unknown draconic variant, attempting uplink to local info-guild network," said the AI to Matt's shock, rows of binary appearing as it hacked his glasses' HUD.

"Hey, I don't need this much info," said Matt.

"Irrelevant, all Atlantean Shar operatives must have all information. Primary uplink at capital: failed. Accessing local facilities, please stand by," said the AI dismissively.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised if they have facilities there," said Matt, "Maybe they'll have something useful."

"Access complete, lifeform identified, species: Nocturnis Furia, sentiency level: partial human, nonverbal, current threat to operative...zero," said the AI a rotating wire model appearing for a second before the system continued "Abilities: Fighter grade flight agility, blaster proof scales, weapon of choice: High grade natural plasma bursts. No other information available."

Matt peered in as the dragon suddenly shot at the bars with a happy expression. "Hey there, girl."

...

Kala had never been happy to see Matt's bad disguises as he said, "Hey there, girl." before her hope vanished as he continued "Who'd lock a cool dragon like you up?"

_"Matt, it's me, Kala, don't you recognize me at all?"_ asked Kala desperately.

"Wow, you musta been all alone for ages to be happy to see someone like me," said Matt, clearly not understanding a word before sighing. "First, I'll cut you out. Then I'm having a word with that Stoick guy about my views on dragon slavery," he said, pulling out a nanostick, putting it in the lock where it began to eat the lock's innards.

Kala wasn't pleased about Matt failing to recognize her, but at least she's getting out of this cage.

...

Matt nodded as the first lock, a practical girder for a deadbolt fell in half, wincing at the loud clang, before reaching for his second when he noticed the dragon seemed to be trying to point behind him. "Oh no," he said dully. He quickly turned around, hiding the nanostick and the busted lock behind his back. He spotted a lanky teenage boy with a peg leg and a dragon of the same species as the one in the cage. "Uh, hi there," said Matt.

"What are you doing?" asked the boy, curiously, the last of the girder giving up behind Matt before the pieces in view visible collapsed into sand.

"Er, I think this dragon has acid-spitted your cage apart," said Matt.

"Night Furies don't have acid spit and there aren't any Changewings here," said the boy before looking around, "At least I don't think there are."

Matt was already weighing his options. His HUD was flashing a 'timeline specific' warning so simply stunning the kid and his pet were out the question. "Erm...I think I saw one earlier," he tried, getting an idea before putting the other nanostick on the remaining lock behind him, this time emptying the lot on the lock, causing the metal to practically disintegrate. "Hope this works," he muttered. He started to edge when he bumped into something. He looked where he was going, but didn't see anything in his way. "What the..." he muttered before poking at the 'solid air' in front of him.

As it turned out, there had been a Changewing in the arena, having followed the group from their camp...as being woken up mid nap by someone landing a 300 ton ship on your tail often annoys.

Suddenly, Matt felt something wrapping his arms to his side. "Hey, what's going on here?" he demanded when a draconic head with long antenna that was binding Matt appeared out of thin air. "Oh no, this is just the crappiest day I've had this month," said Matt gloomily before saying, "You have acid breath, don't you?" The dragon hissed, bits of spit dripping from its mouth to hiss on the stone floor. "Thought as much. You're gonna eat me, aren't you," said Matt, the dragon seeming to think about it before nodding and pointing to its tail which seemed a bit flatter then was healthy at its tip, with a landing strut imprint on it. "Ooooh...I told them to look where they were going," said Matt before he remembered what was about to happen, "Oh yeah..."

With that, the Changewing flew out the Academy door with Matt in its clutches. "Ok, that's something you don't see every day," said Hiccup before getting onto Toothless, "Let's go." However there was the sound of screeching metal as the other Night Fury shot out in pursuit.

...

The Changewing was surprised. It had chased this stray human after he had parked on its tail...and now he was taking it for some quiet revenge it didn't even have the dignity to scream. "Just you wait till we're out of sight. I'm gonna kick your scaly arse," said the human gleefully.

However, a plasma burst suddenly shot out ahead, barely missing the Changewing. "Hey, that wasn't mine," said Matt before noticing the kid and his dragon flying after them. "Oh, great," said Matt, sounding less happy than he should have.

The Changewing however snorted with contempt, diving into the trees, his skin matching perfectly to the background and doubling back, the duo flying overhead. "That's interesting," commented Matt before the AI kicked back in.

"Draconic lifeform: Metamorphis Acido. Weapons of choice: molecular acid. Known to hold extreme grudges and be highly territorial. Threat level: 9. Do not approach," said the AI

"Gee, thanks for the warning," said Matt sarcastically.

"No locals in range. Releasing locks on mutagenic capacities," said the AI calmly.

"It's about time," said Matt as he attempted to change into his dragon form.

The Changewing yelped as his lunch turned into a dragon equal to his size that said in human. "I did warn you." The Changewing immediately vanished as Matt sprayed the area in a storm of plasma bolts that caused a row of explosions.

"Additional information: Metamorphis Acido is an ambushing hunter," said the AI

"So it can camouflage, I can still hear it," said Matt, pausing to listen for the tell-tale sound of branches moving.

"The lightweight musculature and bones of this lifeform also act as natural sound dampening. As a result only its difficulty to obtain prevented its widespread inclusion in the Shar project," said the AI happily. Matt heard a hiss and barely moved before a spray of acid melted the tree in front of him, causing him to spin and blast the area.

...

Kala looked around, desperate to catch up before hearing Toothless not far behind her, calling for her to slow down. _"Not a chance, that's my bushi bu with that acid-spitting chameleon,"_ snapped Kala.

_"What? That human? Wow,"_ said Toothless, having caught up and sounding a little dumbfounded before a series of explosions was heard from the other side of the island.

_"That's Matt alright,"_ said Kala before zooming for where the explosions were coming from.

...

Matt, panting and furious, said "COME OUT, YOU COWARDLY GECKO!" There was a moment of silence before the Changewing suddenly sprang out of nowhere and latched onto Matt. Matt roared, simply choosing to take off to do a few barrel rolls and get it off before there was a hiss and a searing blast of pain...and down he went.

"Alert, critical organic damage, suspending mutagenic abilities for nanorepairs," said his AI before he turned back...in midair.

"SMEGSMEGSMEGSMEGSMEGSMEGSMEG!" yelled Matt as he plummeted. One thump later and Matt was on his back with the Changewing circling. "Is this how it ends? Melted by a dragon," Matt muttered, before a blue plasma bolt slammed into the side of the Changewing.

Matt looked up to see the female dragon from before zooming in and headbutting the Changewing, sending it crashing into the ground. She roared at it for good measure. "Wow," said Matt, before noticing the Changewing getting up and tossing a concussive plasma blast at it, knocking it out. "Bad dragon," he said.

Then the Night Fury landed and quickly went over to Matt, licking him all over. "Ok, ok, I'm happy to see you, stop now," said Matt.

To Kala's credit, she was a bit horrified by her own actions...oh and how her boyfriend tasted, which was of mud, meatloaf and gunpowder. _"When did you last bath, Matt?"_ she said weakly.

"Uh, nice dragon, good girl," said Matt before scratching her head.

_"__Oh you stop that right now or...ooooooh...niiiiice!"_ said Kala, nastily before Matt caught her behind her ear.

"Aw, you're just a big puppy, aren't you?" said Matt. Kala glared and smacked him in the gut. "Ooof...maybe not," groaned Matt before the kid, riding the other black dragon, landed behind them.

"It looks like she's really attached to you," said the kid.

"She slobberized me," said Matt, wincing as he got up before looking at the Changewing. "Little acid spitter," he grumbled.

"What did you do to set that Changewing off?" asked the kid.

"I, uh, stomped on its tail...by accident," said Matt.

The kid looked at the flattened tail end and said "With what?"

"My...really big boot," said Matt. The kid gave him a disbelieving look. "Ok, a sledgehammer, I don't have to explain everything about myself. It was...erm...stealing...my...sandwich...yes, my sandwich," said Matt, happy at, in his head negotiating an enormous whopper of a fib.

"What's a sandwich?" asked Hiccup.

"Dammit!" snapped Matt, before jumping back as the dragon next to him nudged him again. "Do dragons usually stalk?" he asked.

"Well, if they have a grudge against you, but this seems more like the opposite," said Hiccup.

"That's what I meant," moaned Matt, muttering, "Kala'll kill me."

The Night Fury let out a roar that unknown to Matt translated to _"I AM KALA!"_

"She also roars one second and licks me the next," said Matt, puzzled.

"I can't explain it either," said Hiccup, "But I think she's basically telling she likes you."

"Wait, what?" said Matt, in shock.

"As in she wants you to be her rider," said Hiccup.

Matt just stopped at that, a thousand thoughts all rumbling before he said "I...erm..." for once his smartarse tongue throwing in the towel.

Kala gave a shrug, deciding to go with it until Matt got the full message. She grabbed the back of his shirt with her mouth before tossing him back onto her back. Sadly, Matt just ended up bouncing off her back and landing on his head behind her with an 'oof'. Kala gave an annoyed growl before scooping Matt with the top of her head and letting him slide onto her back.

Matt looked around before noticing he had the view of the wrong end. "Oh no," he whimpered as he felt the dragon's flight muscles preparing for takeoff before Kala took off, causing the ill-gripping Matt to do a barrel roll in the air and land on his head again, this time getting his helmet wedged over his head. "Whyyyy?" he moaned.

"Uh, don't worry, it took me and Toothless a while before we got the hang of flying together," said Hiccup.

"Oooowwww...I think my helmet's wedged in the ground," moaned Matt.

...

Sometime later, Toothless and Kala returned to Berk. However, Matt still hadn't quite gotten the hang of dragonriding, especially since his helmet was stuck over his eyes, so Kala had to carry him.

The first thing he did upon being dropped was yell "TECHO, GET THIS HELMET OFF MY HEAD!" The first thing his men did was laugh.

"What took you so long?" asked Chloe.

"Long story, helmet off head now!" said Matt sharply only for the female dragon to grab the helmet and shake Matt till he came loose with a pop...and flew into a wall.

"I see you've made a new friend," said Chloe.

"Yes, we're planning a summer wedding," said Matt, sarcastically to a level that not even the Hooligans could take it wrong. The female dragon made a sound that could almost be disappointment.

Matt grabbed Chloe and pulled her away while the kid began talking to Stoick. "What are we gonna do? We can't take a pet and if it stays here...well, the cell it was in didn't look 4 stars if you get my meaning," Matt whispered.

"Well, we're not going anywhere for a while," said Chloe, "For one thing, the North Star can't cover nearly as much distance as the Bladestorm could. Besides, we have missing crew unaccounted for."

"I know, but we won't be here forever," said Matt.

"I'm sure we can find a good home for her at some point," said Chloe.

"Like where?" said Matt.

"I don't know, we'll know when we see it at some point," said Chloe.

"I suppose..." said Matt, before the two turned to see Stoick and the kid and his dragon headed over. "You get the feeling we're about to get in trouble?" said Matt, adding to Chloe, "I kinda was caught letting that dragon out."

Chloe sighed and turned around with her best diplomacy face. "Hi, can we help you?"

"My son tells me you were down at the dragon academy," said Stoick sternly, Matt waving his arm carefully as Xander and his men tensed up, hands reaching under their cloaks.

"Your son? I don't see-" started NegaMorph before Chloe kicked him from behind.

"How anyone can tell you two apart," said Chloe before NegaMorph could say anything else.

"I...erm..." said Matt, again unable to find anything to say that wouldn't drop him in it.

Stoick gave the female Night Fury a look and said, "And it seems your dragon seems to have selected you."

"I noticed," said Matt.

"Well, that all seems well, unless you were planning on stealing her," said Stoick, sounding more serious.

"Stealing her? That's crazy," said Matt with a manic grin.

"Then I suppose it's just a coincidence that Changewing melted the cage she was in," said Stoick.

"The Chan...I mean, yes, that's exactly what happened," said Matt, the grins manicness dialing down while his eyes focused on the kid who was emitting a similar air of innocentness, the sort people who are hiding something give out.

"Well, I can't say I can complain about another Night Fury rider at the Academy," said Stoick.

"Wait, what?" said Matt, snapping back to the present.

"Though you're in sore need of training from what I've heard," said Stoick, "From the sound of it, you can't even ride a horse."

"There is that," muttered Matt darkly.

"Fortunately for you, my son is the leading expert on dragon riding," said Stoick, "He'll have you flying that Night Fury in no time."

"Ooookay," said Matt carefully before his brain said 'Hey, we beat Kurata not much older than him. Go for it'. "Lead the way, boss," he said.

...

As soon as word spread about Matt's new buddy, all the crew gathered at the arena for the show.

"This'll be good...sooooo good…" said Draco quietly an evil grin on all of his mouths.

Matt knew his crew well enough to know what type of moral support he was getting. "Why am I the only one who gets public humiliation?" he griped.

_'__Karma'_ said Draconus in his head before laughing, causing the kids already in the arena to be treated to their first encounter of a 'Matt moment' in this case, the homicidal giggle.

"Ok, the first part of training a Night Fury is earning its trust," said Hiccup, "Just hold your hand out and let her put her head against it."

Matt looked at the dragon who was grinning with all her teeth in a way that reminded Matt of the experiments every April the 1st. "Are you sure?" he asked cautiously.

"It's all about trust," said Hiccup, "That's the most important part about training dragons."

"Ooookay," said Matt, cautiously reaching forward before, to the group's horror and to someone's laughter in the rafters, the dragoness's mouth snapped forward.

"AAAHHH! SHE GOT MY HAND! SHE GOT MY HAND!" yelled Matt before his sleeve fell down and exposed his 'missing' appendage. "Oh wait, there it is," he said. He turned with a grin to see that the muscle-bound one had fainted.

"Ok, maybe now's not a good time for her," said Hiccup.

Matt glared at the dragoness and said quietly "I carry enough weaponry to flatten islands on a good day, play ball."

The dragoness gave a rumbling purr that could probably be contrived as chucking before rubbing her head against Matt's hand.

"See? She's fine," said Matt before another chomp was heard and his smile became a little glassy. "Not joking this time," he rasped.

"Moody one, ain't she?" said Chris to Chloe.

The dragoness seemed to be chewing gently with the same grin before spitting Matt's hand back out. "Do I have to ride her?" said Matt darkly.

"Well, not tonight, just be glad she hasn't given you the fish test," said Hiccup.

"The fish test?" said Matt, confused at the same time as, to the dragons, Kala said _"The fish test?"_

"Sometimes, they spit up a fish they ate and they expect you to take a bite of it," said Hiccup.

"What? Tell me that's a joke," said Matt, turning a little green.

"No, I've done it too, and it wasn't that pleasant," said Hiccup.

Matt gulped before looking at the dragoness who was grinning evilly again before making several growls, which unknowingly translated to, _"If you don't recognize me, it's fish time."_

"Uh, we've already established a solid enough foundation of trust, right?" asked Matt. The dragon simply shook her head before starting to make retching noises. "No, oh please no," said Matt with horror before she suddenly spat out half a fish. "I really have to?" moaned Matt, wishing he'd brought the medical kit...and the anti-sickness tablets.

"If you don't, it'll really offend her," said Hiccup.

Matt gulped before taking the fish, a head, he noticed and looked at the dragon. "Mercy?" he tried weakly. The dragoness gave a soft growl that had very clear meaning. "I hate you." Matt glared before taking a bite, and despite everything swallowing it, though he immediately went pale.

_'Wow, I can't believe he actually did it,'_ thought Kala.

"I can't...can't believe...uuuurgh…" began Matt. The dragoness and the kids immediately took several steps back. Matt settled for throwing up. "I know how Tohru feels now," he groaned.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you have her trust now," said Hiccup.

"I'd...better...I'm not doing that again, not even if she bites my leg off," groaned Matt. The dragoness made a disgusted look.

"You could try a ride now if you want." said Hiccup.

Matt just groaned before falling over. "Baaaad fishy," he said in a weird bubbling voice. The dragoness just snorted before kicking some dust over Matt and walking off. "I think she wants me time." groaned Matt, slightly muffled as the 'dust' turned out to be a small mound of dirt that partially covered his head.

"Well, looks like we've got a new pet to take care of," said Chris.

"Yeah, in addition to finding Kala, the other half of the Bladestorm, WARDEN, and..." Chloe paused and said, "I'm forgetting someone..."

...

On a moon not that far away...

"Dis coulda gone better," said Dune Runner, his head in his hands.

The last thing he recalled was the ship being under attack. He was heading for the cargo bay doors when there was an explosion. He must have been in stasis for megacycles. He took in his surroundings, namely white rock and dust. However, he could pick up a few energy signatures, presumably the Constructicons who are probably still in stasis.

"This place is a dump...and there's a giant snake robot head in that crater, boss," said Rollout's on the comm frequency Cybertronians used to talk in vacuums.

"Then get to work on it. That head ought to have something we can use to send an SOS," snapped Dirt Boss's voice, "I ain't waiting for some space shuttle to show up."

"I don't think there are any space shuttles. Apart from some old Atlantean probes, there's nothing in orbit," said Hightower, distorted a bit as a solar flare shorted the comm for a second.

"Well, I better go meet up with dem," said Dune Runner before shifting to buggy mode and rolling off towards where the signals were coming from.

* * *

There's the first chapter of a new story. And this story will involve the gang dealing with quite a few disadvantages, especially Kala. Not to mention keep their true nature hidden from the Vikings. Roughly speaking, this story takes place before the season 1 finale, mainly so that the gang can torment Mildew. This is going to be a particularly long story so it's not at all hard to imagine that the second season will start airing before this story is over. I'm not certain what effect, if any, it'll have on the story, but there's a lot about the new season we don't know yet. Anyways, this is going to be a two-part upload so the second chapter will be up as well. Read that one as well and review both.


	2. Smoke and Mirrors

**Voyagers Saga**

**Broken Nest**

**Chapter 2: Smoke and Mirrors**

Mildew was well-known for his paranoia about dragons, so no one really minded him watching the 'Temple Raiders'. It was probably impolite, but it's not like the old man was a threat. Matt however wasn't enjoying the attention he had received ever since the female Night Fury had started sticking to him like superglue...coupled with Mildew following him.

"Don't you have anything else to do?" snapped Matt.

"Oi...this is my home," said the old man nastily, only for Matt to say "I was talking to Miss Clingy."

He paused for a moment and said, "Come to think of it, don't you have any hobbies, like sucking eggs?"

"Oi!" snapped the old man before noticing Matt's gaze falling on his staff.

"A collector I see," he said in an ice cold tone.

"Got them from many nasty beasties," said Mildew proudly, "Dragons can be such treacherous creatures. I wouldn't be surprised if that was following you around just so she can gobble you up when you're alone."

"Really?" said Matt, in a disbelieving tone.

"Haven't you heard, the Night Fury is the unholy offspring of lightning and Death itself?" said Mildew, "They're as nasty as a dragon can get."

"I met worse," said Matt casually

"Oh sure, you think you've seen it all," said Mildew in a condescending tone.

"Yes actually...including talking pink elephants," said Matt, in a serious sounding voice.

Mildew disregarded Matt's driveling and said, "Ok, but when that Night Fury tears your arm off, don't say I didn't warn you."

"I won't," said Matt casually before saying, "Now go away."

"Now what kind of citizen would I be if I just-" started Mildew before the dragoness suddenly swatted him with her tail and sent him flying.

"I like your style, girl." said Matt, with a smirk. The dragoness gave him a toothless smile. "You know, there's something about that seems familiar," said Matt, "Like someone I've met before."

The dragoness seemed to perk up hopefully at that before a whirring got Matt's attention and he looked up to see a spiderbot. "Just my luck, you guys survived," Matt said darkly.

The spiderbot played a voiceclip of Jumba saying, "-designed to completely indestructible and unstoppable!" followed by his patented evil laugh.

"Bad robot. You bloody will swim to camp...and tell your buddies to do the same. This place is packed full of timeline specifics," said Matt angrily.

Another Jumba clip played, 'Molecular density too great to stay buoyant in water."

"Then walk along the sea floor, you guys could probably use the bath," said Matt.

The spiderbot's optics narrowed before it fired a net in his face and scuttled off, grumbling.

Matt pulled the net off and muttered, "Stupid wind-up toys." He turned back to the dragoness and said, "I'm sorry, I completely forgot what we were talking about, what was it again?"

The dragoness snarled into the air before pushing past. "What did I say?" asked Matt, befuddled.

...

While Matt was dealing with his new dragon buddy, some of the crew decided to do something more productive, namely finding whatever pieces of the Bladestorm fell on the island.

"Ok, we saw the front section break up around this area. There must be parts somewhere," said Techo, looking around the undergrowth. They had already had some luck, the largest bits having set fires. It had been as simple as following the smoke.

Draco was sniffing around for any more bits. The metal smelled distinct from the forest so he's had a little luck with that. "Do we really need to pick up every scrap?" asked Draco, "I mean, those Vikings won't be able to do much with them."

"And if they find a working plasma rifle or particle cannon?" said Techo

"Wouldn't they have melted into slag in reentry?" asked Draco.

"That's worse then. They find a particle cannon with an unstable power source," said Talia.

"This is why we're out here with metal detectors," said Chris, "Besides, the more pieces we can find for the nanoforge, the better equipment we'll have."

"Hey...is this smoke moving against the wind?" said Xander curiously.

The group looked up to see a cloud floating above the trees. "Against the wind? I think it's ignoring the meteorological rule that heat rises," said Techo, noticing that the cloud was starting to descend.

"Erm...the cloud's moving this way," said Talia, nervously as the group all started wishing they'd hidden more than a few las-pistols about their disguises.

"Oh please, it's just smoke. It's not like it's a smoke serpent," said Draco before pausing and asking, "It's not, right?"

"It's moving by itself. I vote smoke serpent," said Techo nervously.

"In that case, I think I better freeze it up," said Draco before blowing ice breath at the smoke cloud. The smoke cloud instead seemed to grow and thin briefly to avoid the ice steam before consuming Draco, various chomping noises heard before the smoke left a dazed Draco behind. "It's not...smoke," he rasped

"Well, that only makes me feel slightly better," said Talia.

"It's also...angry," rasped Draco, pointing a thumb at where the smoke was 'regrouping'.

"Uh, Xander, you think you can zap it or something?" asked Talia.

"Not without a clear target," said Xander, backing up.

By now, the smoke cloud seemed to have fully amassed itself and it suddenly swooped down upon the group.

…

Chloe herself was doing what Matt was, and finding things out. "So you only stopped fighting these dragons a year ago?" she asked a girl who had identified herself as Astrid while looking at the old catapult towers, one of which looked capable of downing the North Star with a lucky shot.

"Well, we didn't know then that the dragons were forced to feed a gigantic dragon and had to raid us for more food," said Astrid, "It probably would have gone on forever if it weren't for Hiccup and Toothless."

"Sounds like you had it tough," said Chloe before looking up as Astrid's dragon growled as an old man went by. "That the guy following my brother?" she asked.

"That's Mildew, he's the only one in town who still hates dragons," said Astrid, "Not that he was popular before that."

Chloe went a little bug eyed as she got a whiff. "I can see why. I hate cabbage," she said weakly.

"Well that and he's always complaining," said Astrid.

"True...how long do you think before he complains about us because of our name?" asked Chloe curiously before she tensed up, spotting a spiderbot following Mildew along the roof.

"What? Lynch? That's hardly the worst names around here," said Astrid.

"I dunno...we tend to attract trouble," said Chloe, watching the spiderbot seemingly lay in wait on the roof ahead of Mildew.

"Trouble's a frequent visitor here," said Astrid.

"Oh they're only stalking at the moment," said Chloe absently.

"What?" asked Astrid.

"Oh, nothing," said Chloe with a smile as there was a 'clunk' and splashing noise as a bucket of water strangely landed on Mildew's head.

"So, I bet you guys have dozens of stories about the temples you've raided," said Astrid.

"It doesn't mean temples, temporal, as in time...oh, it's a long story," said Chloe before a beep was heard.

"What-"

"Why don't you go along and play, it's a beautiful day," said Chloe before ducking into an alley. She activated her comm and said, "What is it?"

"Stitch found something interesting back at camp: an airlock in the ground, been left open and was iced over," said Chip's voice.

"Does it go anywhere?" asked Chloe.

"We dunno...looks pretty old. Definitely our tech, but none of the access codes work...looks real old," said Chip.

"Any idea of how long it's been there?" asked Chloe.

"Real old...we haven't sent in teams yet," said Chip.

"What's going on here?" called Mildew's voice.

"Gottago," rushed Chloe, managing to turn her wrist comp off just as Mildew came into view...had he seen it? "What do you want?" she said coldly.

"For one thing, the hide of whatever miscreant dropped that bucket on me," said Mildew, "For another, who were you talking to?"

"Nobody," said Chloe innocently.

"Ain't nobody named 'Nobody' around here," said Mildew accusingly.

"Tough. I was talking to myself, Mildew. I've heard you talking to a sheep so you can't talk," Chloe said, equally accusingly

"Fungus is a very intelligent creature, much cleverer than some of the people around here," said Mildew defensively.

"He's a sheep. They have small brains. Dragons however...I've met ones that make most scientists seem like rocks," said Chloe, coldly.

"Fine, babble all you want, it only proves that the lot of you are plum crazy," said Mildew before stomping off.

"Bye, Lord Mutton," taunted Chloe

Apparently, Chloe's comm wasn't as off as she thought it was because she heard Chip's voice say, "Did we forget the general rule about talking about the future to the locals in the past?"

"He's a grouchy old man and registers as a villain in timeline specific. He's fair game," said Chloe happily.

…

Xander peered out from behind an overturned tree, his helmet, fake sword and blaster all gone. Talia, sporting a black eye, peered up beside him, in a similar situation of no gear. "Ok...so we're alive...that's a good point," she said.

Chris, who had several scratches on his face, peered up and said, "How are we going to be able to tell the others we were mugged by a cloud?"

"Or how that same cloud made off with Techo?" said Draco.

"Matt'll murder us," said Talia simply

"If he's able to think straight after all those crashes," said Chris.

"He will, we're not that lucky," said Talia simply.

"Well, Techo won't be that hard to track. I bet he left a strong scent," said Draco before sniffing around.

"Just when the spiderbots would come in useful too," said Chris darkly.

"I think we can handle smog without the spiderbots," said Talia.

"You sure? They stole Xander's holocloak and that's locked on," said Chris, pointing to where Xander's form was flickering

"Which is why we can't run back and get them," said Talia, sounding annoyed.

Chris muttered "We could send Draco solo..." only for Draco to call "Found him."

"Can you tell where they're going?" asked Xander.

"Yes, just follow the scent of smoke, lubricant, and copious sweat," said Draco.

...

Meanwhile, Matt had slipped away from town again, this time with a high powered blaster concealed about his person...and with his 'pet dragon' in tow. "Look, please stop, I can't take you with me when we leave," he said. The dragon made a desperate-sounding growl before pushing up against Matt.

"Oh great...now I know how Spyro felt," muttered Matt, before looking at his scanner and the multiple dots that represented the alloy the Bladestorm had used. "We were probably directly over this island when we were attacked," commented Matt, "There are a lot of pieces to pick up.

The dragon suddenly stopped before grabbing Matt's sleeve and yanking. "What? Oh, what now?" snapped Matt. Suddenly, she flipped Matt up onto her back and started running.

"And now I'm being kidnapped." muttered Matt darkly as the dragoness took him to a depression in the ground, a small pool at the bottom...but that wasn't what got Matt's attention, it was what was sticking out of it.

"An escape pod?" he said before quickly climbing off the dragon's back and heading down into the crater to get a better look at the markings on its sides. "Kala's," muttered Matt, reading the NSC code on the side before looking up to see the dragoness using a branch to make an arrow pointing from the pod before standing in front of it.

Matt looked at the arrow for a few seconds before realizing what it meant. "An arrow indicating where Kala went after she crashed," he said. He patted the dragon on the head and said, "Thanks, girl," before walking in the direction the arrow indicated.

Kala stared for a second before screaming _"SMEG!"_ She smacked a paw against her forehead and grumbled, _"I forgot how terrible he is at guessing games."_

Kala then looked along to see Matt had found something. Matt looked closely at the inactive ion staff and said, "Odd, why would Kala have dropped her ion staff? I wonder..." He turned to Kala and asked, "Hey, can you pick up her scent with this?"

The dragoness stared before its eyes narrowed, rolling them before sniffing them, then going over to the lake and making pointing motions at her reflection.

"Ah, she went for a swim after the crash," said Matt, "I suppose she would have wanted to get clean. Unless...she was being chased by someone and she went there to lost her scent."

The dragoness glared, grabbing Matt by the arm and throwing him into the lake before walking off to the other side of the pit.

Matt got back to the shore and asked, "What was that for?" The dragoness suddenly tensed up and began growling. "What? What now?" asked Matt.

There were several clicks. "Well, well, well, Captain Lynch, all alone," said a helmet filtered voice behind Matt.

Matt sighed before saying, "Ok, who am I roughing up today?"

"That depends, you want your girlfriend back in one piece or not?" said another of the troopers, Matt finally turning to see three of them on the rim of the pit above.

"What have you done with her?" demanded Matt, all humor dropping from his voice.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Kill us, come after us...you'll never find her," said another of the troopers, taking HER helmet off to reveal her face. "Maybe next time you'll keep your little flamethrower in check."

Matt knew that face. The person behind the mask was a black-haired African human though her eyes looked wrong. Now he knew he wasn't dealing with NSC troopers, these were marauders. And not just any marauders. That face had been on some impressive wanted posters and made quite a few appearances on news broadcasts regarding rather heinous crimes.

The marauder seemed to sense what he was thinking. "Privateers, we get you, we all get pardons. Isn't that nice?" she said, cheerfully as if they were old friends.

"'Nice' isn't the word I'd use, especially around you," said Matt.

"Well, that's a shame. Now, I've had a bad day. We were dragged into supplementing Mr. McNeil's boarding action...and now we're stuck in the pre-bog roll era. So I'm gonna go relax, but I'm going to leave you with my two friends. Oh and if you survive, you come within a mile of our camp and I'll mail you your dear love's head," said the marauder, grinning coldly before saying "Alicia...remember the name." before she walked off, her two companions jumping down into the pit and shifting to splitter forms, pulling out concussion staffs.

"You guys just pushed the wrong buttons," said Matt, shifting his right arm to dragon mode.

The splitters looked at each other and pulled out firearms instead. "Oh crap!" yelped Mat, diving back into the lake as the duo opened fire.

...

They followed the scent until they heard something up ahead. Careful listening revealed it to be someone swearing loudly in Splitter. The group peered around to see Techo hanging from a tree. "Ah, the laughing hyenas have arrived. Get me down!" he snapped as he spotted the others.

Talia smirked and said, "Don't tell me you can't get down all by yourself."

"They fried my cyber arm's systems and left me holding a branch...little scaly gits," snapped Techo angrily.

"What little scaly gits?" asked Chris.

"The ones in the cloud...was full of little scaly smokestacks. Little arseholes almost took me arm off getting my wrist comp..." snapped Techo, lifting up his arm and adding triumphantly "...which they failed to get."

"Dragons, I might have known," said Talia before saying to Xander, "You think you can get him down?" Xander grinned before grabbing the tree and shaking it hard. A second later Techo landed on his head, followed by a shower of several disks which sprouted legs.

"Well what do you know, a spiderbot tree," said Draco. On cue the 'disks' all turned to look at Draco, revealing several scorch and scratches on them, one even missing half a leg. "I guess those dragons must have tried to nab you too," said Draco.

One of the spiderbots jumped up and down, gibbering angrily before waving to its fellows who proceeded to kick their tree till a hogtied lizard also fell down, tied up with old cabling.

Chris looked at the 'lizard' and could clearly see it was a dragon. It was smoky blue-grey with a round froglike body, curved spikes down its spines, and a wide smoking mouth. It was about the size of a Terrible Terror, which would explain how many could fit into a cloud. "Hey Techo, that identifying thing still work on your wristcomp?" he asked.

Techo typed it in and was surprised to see a very old file header appear. "Hey, these guys were spotted before the NSC," he said, cheerfully, pointing to the header 'H.L.A' before reading it "Apparently these guys love metal...to the point that they stripped a shuttle down to its struts in under half an hour...fun," he said mock cheerful.

"Kinda guessed that," said Talia, "Does it say what they use all that metal for?"

"They sent a team to find out once...team never came back," said Techo, looking at the angry little dragon that seemed to be saying with its eyes 'Just you wait'.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I want my stuff back," said Chris, "Think we can find out where these little guys roost?"

"Let's cut the guy loose and follow him. If they work as a team they probably live as one too," said Techo, glaring at the dragon who returned the glare.

"I don't know. Something tells me it won't fly right back to its nest," said Draco.

"Oh, it will if it knows what's good for it," said Techo with a certain amount of evil relish. One of the spiderbots unfolded what looked to be a nailgun to emphasize it. The dragon glared as some of the other bots untied it before, with one final look, it flew for the treeline. Draco immediately took off after it. "After that smokebomb!" yelled Techo.

…

Fortunately, as anyone knows, water disrupts the straightness of light that passes through it so objects aren't exactly where they seem to be. But the splitters had more than enough ammo to spend. The other more serious problem was that the blasts were heating the water up fast. _'Thermite plasma? Oh goody, I get to get cooked'_ thought Matt _'Bet that dragons legged it'_ before one of the splitters fell in the water with him, a nasty burn mark in his chest before dissolving to dust as all splitters did when they died. That intrigued Matt's interest enough to make him want to surface. Not to mention he couldn't hold his breath very long underwater.

He surfaced to see the other splitter firing at something in the air. "What the smeg?" muttered Matt before hearing what sounded like a Starfury in a dive before a blue blast shot from above, sending the second splitter flying. Matt looked up to see the dragoness bank back up. However, the splitter was not out and sent several blasts upwards. They didn't hit the dragoness, but they forced her to land to keep her wings from being damaged.

"Stupid primitive dragon," snarled the splitter, throwing more lightning bolts while inching back towards his blaster. The dragoness was forced to dodge, unable to get close enough and the splitter was not falling for another blast, refusing to stay still long enough for a disabling shot. Eventually, the splitter managed to grab his blaster and aimed it at the dragoness. "Die, beast," he snarled.

The dragoness yelped before there was a deafening boom and a decent sized hole appeared in the splitters chest, a golf ball sized hole appearing through a rock next to his victim before there was several more booms until the mangled splitter disintegrated, revealing Matt holding the other marauder's blaster. "No one hurts my dragon," said Matt.

The Night Fury made a happy sound before glomping Matt. "Gah, ok, it's nice to see you too, you kicked arse. Even Spyro was shocked by Xander first time," said Matt, pushing the dragon away as she tried to lick him before the dragon jumped back. Matt noticed her making a gaking sound and said, "Hey, I'm not doing that fish thing again, I don't care if you'll blast me."

_"Oh blitznak...he tastes like compost casserole...when I turn back, I'm locking him in decon,"_ Kala groaned, licking a rock to try and lose the taste.

Matt sighed. "You're gonna need a name for now..." he muttered. The dragoness looked up, looking interested. "How about...Starflame...you hit like a damn Starfury and you're a Night Fury. It suits you," Matt muttered.

Kala stared. _"Really? That's the best you can come up with?"_ she thought.

"Well, you're not blasting me, so I'm guessing you have no objections," said Matt, "Starflame it is." Starflame glared before muttering something in dragonese.

...

Eventually, the dragon led to a cliff at the far end of the island. The sea-facing cave wasn't easy for humans to climb up to, but the cliff was craggy enough to them to climb down from the top to near the entrance.

The smoke coming out was clear enough as the source of the dragons. "Ok, Draco, you go first. These guys are probably related, try talking to them," said Techo.

Draco gave him an annoyed glare and said, "I think that might be considered discriminatingly offensive."

Techo glared "I've been smoked, hung upside down from a tree, try my patience a little more," he snapped.

"Ok, ok, fine," said Draco before flying over.

Techo sat back before opening the old file again and reading further. "Oh, lifeforms noted to be territorial to the point of xenophobic...oh," he said slowly. There was growling noises before a lot of snapping and Draco yelping in pain. "Aaaand there it is," muttered Techo before Draco scrambled back up at record speed.

Draco, who was now covered with several bite marks, said, "Those guys...are not friendly."

"Yeah...so did you see any of our stuff?" said Chris, before there was a painful sounding noise from below and one of the dragons shot out, managing to right itself before heading back in.

"They've got some of the bots," said Draco casually.

"Well, that ought to keep them occupied," said Talia, "Did you see what they were doing with that metal?"

"It looked like they were melding it together into one big wall," said Draco, "Pretty good defense, you have to admit."

"Why would they build a wall? That makes no sense," complained Techo before stopping. "They were gonna put me in a wall?" he yelped.

"Only the important part of you," said Xander, tapping Techo's arm, "The rest of you would probably be used to feed their hatchlings." Techo froze at that, Xander, after a minute, tapping Techo's forehead to no reaction. "Yup, he's having a terror attack," he said calmly, before grabbing Techo and walking over to a boulder, which Techo was propped against.

"You know, for all that metal, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of them," said Talia, "Maybe 12 at the most."

"They're probably a fledgling colony, newly arrived to this island," said Xander, "Like how bees send away some of their own to start a new hive when the old one gets too full."

"We need to make 'em move, before they decide to raid this island," said Chris, before looking at Draco again, this time with an idea.

"Hey, I'm not going back there again," protested Draco.

"Tough, no choice in the matter," said Xander, reaching for his armor under his suit.

"Besides, you saw what they did the last time. I doubt they'll be any more welcome to me coming in again," said Draco.

Xander had pulled out what looked like a badge from his belt, the others all suddenly scrambling away from Draco. "Did I ever tell you what my job was before I met Mr. Lynch?" said Xander calmly pushing a few of the runes on the 'badge' causing it to start to hum.

"Uh, no, not really," said Draco.

"I worked in the Splitter imperial army. I still have some souvenirs from before the empire fell...like this one," said Xander, tossing the badge at Draco's head.

"What's that?" asked Draco before the badge hit his head.

"Well, it's less of a hologuise then a temporary mutagen. I keyed it to the smokers. Have fun," said Xander, kicking Draco over the edge.

Draco yelped before there was a sudden flash of light. When he flew back up, he was nearly identical to the smoker dragons except for the badge on his head. He growled something which was probably supposed to be rude at them. "Just get down there and convince the little fire hazards to go," said Xander. Draco hissed before flying to the cave.

...

The Smothering Smokebreaths had collected a lot of metal to be smelted together. However, they were having some trouble with the newer stuff, which didn't seem to be melting even with their combined flames. It also didn't help that this new 'living' metal was throwing the older stuff at them...and sometimes their own kind if they got too close.

"This new stuff isn't that great," said one of the Smokebreaths.

"Hey, if we can get it to melt into place, we'll have the ultimate defense," said another.

On cue, a bent sword concussed the second dragon, the first one faceclawing. "Urgh...that's if we can get close enough," it muttered, looking up to see the latest attempt's dragon being bounced off the wall a few times before being thrown out the cave, the metal disk that had done it blowing a raspberry before scuttling back to cover.

Just then, a new dragon flew into the cave. "Hey, do you know that guy?" asked one Smokebreath.

"Maybe he's from the old flock," said another.

"He's a bit late...hmm...ow...right, he's next up...HEY, NEW GUY!" said the first, yelping as another piece of metal bounced off his head.

The new dragon spun around before asking, "Who, me?"

"Yes, you, you're next up. Weld those damn spider...disk things," said the first Smokebreath, who was also the alpha of the flock

"Uh...don't you think those things are more hassle than they're worth?" asked the new dragon.

"No...these will be the ultimate deterrence against egg thieves," said the leader, before pointing at the pile, a spiderbot peering out angrily and making the classic throat slitting motion at the new dragon who whimpered "Mummy."

"You know, I'm not so sure this cave is that secure," said the new dragon, "Come to think of it, I saw a cave on another island that looks a lot better." The other dragons however pointed dully, the new guy looking down to see a grapple around his leg. "Oh no," he moaned before being shot back behind the pile.

The dragons winced as they heard the sound of thrashing and the new guy screaming, "Hey, ow, stop, wait a, ow, I'm on your OH GOD NOT THA-" There was a sudden explosion followed by the recorded sound of someone laughing manically.

There was also a rising hum. "They're gonna do the light trick! DUCK AND COVER!" yelled one Smokebreath before a red blast shot out of the pile and out the hole. "Well, scratch one new...whoa," said another, the new dragon staggering out covered in soot.

"Twinkle twinkle little staaaaar…" gibbered the new guy.

"New guy's tougher than he looks," said one of the Smokebreaths.

"I'm...scorrrrched," rasped the new guy, coughing up quite alot of smoke before falling face down on the floor.

"Well, I guess you can rest before trying again," said the alpha.

The new dragon gave him an incredulous look and said, "Again?" He quickly sprang into the air and flew out yelling "I QUIT!" There was another flash at that and a crack of thunder and the new guy came back in even more scorched. "Changed my mind," he rasped, muttering something about a 'Xander'.

"So, you ready for another round in there?" asked the alpha, gesturing to the scrap pile.

"No...please no," moaned the newcomer.

"C'mon, we've all had our share," said one of the Smokebreaths, who had several bruises. His companion would have added something, but he still had that large piece of ship's hull wedged in his mouth.

"Aw blitznak," moaned the newcomer, slowly heading towards the barricade before being dragged over it. "Can't we discuss this like rational beings?" asked the newcomer's voice before the mauling began.

"I kinda feel sorry for him," said one of the other Smokebreaths before the newcomer was thrown out the cave again.

...

The four of them watch as Draco was chucked back up there. "Ok, one minute break and its back into the fray," said Chris. Draco glared before breathing a large amount of smoke into his face.

"Hey, you're the only one who can get close, ok?" said Talia before saying chirpily "Time's up." and kicking Draco back over the edge.

Chris coughed as he waved the last of the smoke away from his face. "Are we actually expecting him to be able to get anything done?" he asked.

"Not really, but I'm sick of him whining about the weather," said Xander calmly.

"How long should we keep him at it before we send the real marines in?" asked Techo, looking at the spiderbots besides him.

"I think once more," said Xander

"That should take, oh, about five minutes," said Talia.

...

As it was it was about to take longer, as the last blow had damaged the bio cloak on Draco's head. The Smokebreaths first got suspicious when the newcomer started flickering and seemed a little green. "Hey...are you ok?" asked one of them, peering closely at the newcomer.

"No, I'm being thrashed by metal monsters a tenth of my size," grumbled the newcomer.

"I ask cause...you're turning green," said the same Smokebreath

"What? Green? I thought I was just hit too hard on the head," said the newcomer, starting to sound worried.

"Hey, you're starting to smell wrong..." said the Smokebreath before a spiderbot peered out.

"Buddy," chirped the spiderbot. The Smokebreaths gave the spiderbot an odd look.

"Careful, he's trying to catch you offguard," said the newcomer before noticing he had a claw at the end of the tail and quickly hiding it behind him.

"Fine, keep an eye out..." said the alpha, nobody hearing the muffled noises of the spiderbots making sure silence was golden.

However, the odd spot on the newcomer's forehead had started sparking. "What's that on your head?" asked one of the Smokebreaths.

"I can explain..." started the newcomer before a final shower of sparks came out and the newcomer warped into a completely different type of dragon. "Oh blitznak," said Draco. One of the spiderbots held up a note to the Smokebreaths that said, 'Yes, stupid, it's an intruder.'

The Smokebreaths turned back to look at Draco before all starting to snarl as one, the translator going bust along with the bio-cloaker. "Uh, guys, we can talk this out..." started Draco.

The spiderbots luckily stopped anything developing, deciding to jump in on things...in this case, on the Smokebreaths.

Draco quickly flew out of the cave and back to the others. "Ok, diplomacy's officially a bust," he said, "Let's try something else now."

"Hey, maybe the spiderbots will solve it...oh no...but fast, I'll give 'em that," said Techo gloomily to where one of the Smokebreaths had flown up, a spiderbot perched on its head.

The spiderbot handed Techo a rolled-up scroll with an official-looking seal on it. "What's it say?" asked Chris, as Techo unrolled it.

_"__This document is a written representation of the treaty between the Berk Colony of Smothering Smokebreaths and the Spiderbots of the former NSC Bladestorm. Destroying this document won't change a thing except to warrant you several burns and zaps for destruction of a legal document._

_In exchange the Smokebreaths for __collecting the scattered metal fragments of the Bladestorm__, __not looting the village of Berk__, and __rider services__, the Spiderbots shall provide __protection for the nest and hatchlings__, __help build up the defense walls__, and __serve as a mediatory correspondence between the Smokebreaths and the crew of the Bladestorm__._

_The crew shall be provided scrap metal from the Bladestorm in exchange __for keeping the location of the Smokebreath colony a secret__. Should the crew attempt to break the agreement, the Smokebreath/Spiderbot alliance shall engage war upon the crew until apologies and a tribute is given."_

"I don't believe it. You did that in the space of a minute?" said Chris, Techo turning the scroll over to see written 'we're fast writers and they're fast readers'.

"Did they say 'rider services'?" asked Talia.

"Yes they did...they even underlined it," said Techo.

Suddenly, the Smokebreaths flew out of the cave in a diamond formation, each with a spiderbot riding on its back.

"The boss is gonna kill us dead," said Techo simply.

...

"Marauders? They fleshed out the NSC boarding teams with Marauders?" hissed Chloe. Matt, followed by Starflame had explained his little misadventure in details.

"Not just any marauders. That was Alicia, I've seen more than a few wanted posters of her," said Matt.

"And I bet that big snake thing was all standing between them and looting this planet," said Chloe, sounding worried.

"She's a small clan, plus she said that if she killed us, she and her men got pardons. So I doubt she'll risk messing that up by going loot nuts," said Matt, though both realized that was hardly reassuring.

"And she said that they have Kala?" asked Chloe.

"Apparently so...I'm not so sure...but I'm not gonna risk it. So we're defensive only till she's back," said Matt.

Starflame apparently said something in dragonese, but it wasn't very clear. "Well, I suppose we have a new pet," said Chloe, "At least she's a smart one." She reached around Starflame's head and started rubbing her behind her ear.

Kala glared. _"Oh here we go aga-ooooh...niiice,"_ she said, falling over as the sweet spot was hit. As inconvenient as it was to be unable to communicate, at least she was certain Matt wasn't leaving her soon.

Just then, the scent of smoke caught everyone's attention. They turned to see Techo's team had return and looked and smelled more than a little sooty. "Techo, you know I don't approve of smoking," said Matt in a half-serious tone.

"Deal with it until laundry day," said Techo, "The spiderbots are taking care of the rest of the Bladestorm pieces. That's all you want to know."

Matt and Chloe exchanged glances before Chloe said, "Where the spiderbots are concerned, I think we're better off not knowing."

Matt shrugged and said, "So long as the metal stays out of the wrong hands, I don't care."

* * *

And there's the second half of this two-fold upload. Matt and Kala's relationship is going to have some very rough development, especially since Kala will be having a near-impossible time of trying to tell Matt who she really is. And of course, the marauders here are going to be causing a lot of trouble for the gang throughout this story. The Smothering Smokebreaths are an extension from the flock that live on Breakneck Bog, but they're not going to cause as much trouble. But 'trouble' is a bit up to debate where the spiderbots are involved. They'll probably be having a sporadic appearance throughout this story. Today's upload was a premiere two-part opening, the rest of the chapters are going to be uploaded weekly one at a time. So keep an eye out for next week's chapter and please review.


	3. In the Living Room of the Mountain King

**Voyagers Saga**

**Broken Nest**

**Chapter 3: In the Living Room of the Mountain King**

The camp, in the week since both settling in and finding out their island wasn't a normal one, had become a hive of activity, troopers using modified laser rifles to dig through to the hatch under the ice, Matt helping by sending low level plasma blasts down to vaporize the ice and dry the inside and finally, it had paid off. The first few levels were open and Chip had, in a rare removal from the North Star, had worked on getting the base back up, at least as far as power and heating went.

The real prize had been found by Techo. "It's a Hyperion class battlecruiser, nickname the 'Hammerhead mobile base'. This baby's ancient...and it's our ticket outta here," he said cheerfully to Chloe and Matt, the trio standing in the huge hanger where the ship hung from the ceiling on clamps.

"Yes, it is...after a severely need tune-up," said Chip over the comm system, "This thing has been frozen for centuries. I'd be surprised if you can get any lights to turn on."

"He's right. My boys checked it out. Every relay's frozen or fried. Just as well this base has nanoforges. We can replicate the parts...but it'll take a while," said Techo, his cheerfulness vanishing.

Matt sighed. "How long?" he asked.

"Month or two if you're lucky...less if we can bring all the base systems up," Techo replied.

Chloe sighed, "That's all we need. Some of us are already getting twitchy from their first survival situation."

...

"Ma'cherie, please," said Gary desperately, "Our conditions cannot be helped...at least this old base will allow us to live in some comfort."

"In the middle of an iceberg?!" snapped Megan, "Can you really expect us to live in a giant meat locker?"

"It is apparently fake ice under the snow, camouflage. Where else could we go? Paris is not even built yet," said Gary, trying logic.

"Rome's the most advanced city in the world, right now. It's probably a lot better than this backwater archipelago," said Megan.

"Yes...but all we will end up as slaves if we go there. I could not forgive myself if something happened to you," said Gary.

"Maybe you'll end up a slave with the amount of ambition you have," snapped Megan, "But I could rise up a lot higher than that."

Gary stopped at that, a hurt expression on his face. "Ma'cherie?" he said faintly.

Just then, Matt walked outside and said, "Good news, we've got the refrigerator running. Admittedly, it's a bit redundant here." He stopped as he saw Megan's expression. "I'm presuming you're the problem I was told about. Megan, we can't help this and nobody leaves the base alone. Why not come to Berk? I gotta train with Starflame after all."

"Berk? The only place that's more desolate than that little place would be right here. There is nothing to do over there," said Megan.

"MEGAN!" roared Matt, shifting to dragon hybrid at that, "I will NOT have you acting like this. We're in this together. So act like it."

Megan grumbled before saying, "Fine, whatever."

"What was that?" said Matt, glaring.

"Sorry...fine, whatever, SIR!" said Megan sarcastically before stomping off.

"I don't understand what has gotten into her," said Gary, "She's never been this unhappy about where she stays."

"She's a townie, probably never left a city before she met us...was the same for me. She'll get over it," said Matt.

"I don't know, she seemed pretty upset," said Gary.

"Gary, if there's one thing I know about women, they like to make mountains out of molehills and the only way to make them see reason is to wait for them to settle down," said NegaMorph who was passing by.

Matt stopped at that before stopping NegaMorph dead. "That's the worst advice I have ever heard. I warned you what would happen if you kept trying to sabotage Megan and Gary..." said Matt darkly before making NegaMorph shoot off into the air at high speed, releasing him...but not before freezing his wings. Matt turned to Gary and said, "Megan will be fine when she adjusts. A girl can't just dump a guy because he can't change where he lives."

There was a crash behind them as Nega landed at speed, a groan coming from the new hole. "You are right...maybe both of you. She needs time to think...and I doubt anything I say will help," Gary said.

"Not like you can get any expensive gifts to help her calm down any faster around here," said NegaMorph. Matt glared before flattening NegaMorph again. "I really...was trying to...help," came the rasp.

Gary however was being thoughtful. "I would like to come to Berk with you when you head back," he said suddenly.

"Good idea, mingle with kids your age, keeps you from going stir crazy," said Matt.

"...and maybe find something to take Megan's mind off this situation," said Gary thoughtfully.

...

The ship slowly sailed back towards Berks dock, Matt looking at Gary, Megan, NegaMorph and Contrinus, Draco back at base taking advantage of the rebooted heating. "Ok, non-humans, no talking in front of the Vikings. Everyone else, human forms, no matter what," he said.

"Oh, so I'm supposed to keep quiet while you get to shoot your mouth off?" said NegaMorph.

"Considering your voice makes little kids cry, yes," said Matt.

"I hate you," muttered NegaMorph before a wrist collar landed at his feet.

"Hologuise keyed for the Viking look, don't waste it," said Matt.

NegaMorph put on the cloak, which made him look like a short ugly Viking. "So, what do people around here do for fun?" he asked.

Matt pressed a button and NegaMorph's look shimmered into a more human form. "From what I understand, up till a year ago, their idea of fun was killing dragons." said Matt sarcastically.

There was a happy roar before a black blur suddenly barreled into Matt, sending him flying out into the harbor. The group simply sweatdropped as Matt's pet dragoness peered over the side just as a splash and a rather final sounding 'snap' was heard before a burp followed.

"Isn't that the same sea dragon from yesterday?" asked Gary.

"I think so," said NegaMorph out of interest before there was a 'ptyui' and Matt was sent back skyward, Starflame taking off and catching him on her back.

"I wonder if the computer has any information on that type of dragon," said NegaMorph, holding Matt's wrist comp out towards the large dragon swimming in the harbor.

"Status: Unknown aquatic...weapon of choice...ingested superheated H20...advice...avoid," said the limited file.

"So, that thing spits out hot water?" asked Megan.

"Aye, that's what Scauldrons do best," said Gobber, who had somehow appeared behind them.

The trio practically jumped a mile up, having not noticed that the rest of the crew had docked up. "Erm...how long were you there?" said Gary innocently.

"I saw Starflame tacklin' Matt into the harbor, figured there'd be something to watch," said Gobber, "It gets a little dull around here now that the dragon war's over. It's not like the trolls come knockin' and askin' for a fight."

"Trolls? Seriously?" said Matt, jumping down from the hovering Starflame who, with a happy roar, flew back towards the academy.

"Aye, they're tricky creatures that only come out at night since the sun will turn them to stone," said Gobber, "They've been known to steal away humans to take down below. They also steal socks, but only the left ones, I don't know why."

"Are you pulling our legs?" said Megan curiously.

"I most certainly am not. Trolls are very real, just not as much trouble as dragons were so no one pays much attention," said Gobber, "I suppose it's lucky we have the dragons on our side now or they may want to take the whole village."

"Oooookay." said Matt carefully before saying "I have to go learn how to fall off my dragon." before running off up the dock.

Megan looked around "What a dump," she muttered under her breath

"It's the third century, what would you expect?" whispered NegaMorph. Megan just walked up onto the docks, NegaMorph seeing Gary talking to Gobber. A little while later, Gary walked back, looking a little nauseous. "What were you talking to him about?" asked NegaMorph.

"I asked for some suggestions on a good gift for Megan," said Gary, "He gave some...attention-grabbing ideas, but I'm definitely sure she wouldn't like them."

"Weapons?" said NegaMorph dully.

Gary nodding and saying weakly "Weapons." before Gary looked thoughtful and started heading for the forest. "I'll see you in a few minutes," he said.

"Watch out for trolls," NegaMorph called teasingly before saying, "Actually, it'll be those Terrible Terrors you need to watch for. They're known to mob for snacks."

...

Matt and Starflame came back later, Matt covered in cuts and bruises from a disastrous high speed flying lesson with Hiccup. "Tell me again, how long did it take you to get the hang of it?" asked Matt

"A couple of days," said Hiccup, "Of course, I had to figure out how to make his tail fin just right and I had to practice in secret."

He soon spotted where Megan and Gary was, given that their location was somewhat darker than the area around them, like someone casting a big shadow. Megan was clutching her head and yelling at Gary who was holding a small bouquet of sunshine yellow flowers.

Matt gulped, recognizing the breed. "Starstream daisies...baaad move. Megan, calm down," he called, running over with Starflame, Hiccup and Toothless just behind and round the corner.

"Calm down? This stupid clod just shoved a handful of those stupid flowers into my face!" snapped Megan, her eyes glowing red.

"Megan...Hiccup's 5 seconds away...stow the mojo," hissed Matt angrily.

Megan took a very deep breath and the light grew brighter. Her eyes stopped glowing, but she was still looking miffed.

On cue, Hiccup came round the corner, though Toothless had arrived early and was staring.

...

_"Told you that they weren't Vikings,"_ said Kala smugly.

_"Apparently,"_ said Toothless, _"What are they?"_

_"We're from space,"_ said Kala, proudly.

...

Matt, Gary and Megan were grinning as Hiccup walked back off, Toothless aiming a suspicious glare over his shoulder at them before Matt span on Megan. "That is it, young lady. You are going back to base via NegaMorph's portal till you calm down," he snapped

Megan gave Matt five angry glaring red eyes and said, "I'd like to see you try."

Matt glared. "I won't...but he will," said Matt, pointing up to where a spiderbot was on the roof.

Megan glanced up before saying, "Only if it can catch me." Suddenly, she seemed to disappear but then Matt felt something shove against him.

Matt was sent sprawling before he clicked down his thermal vision in time to see a Megan-shaped silhouette vanish round a corner. "Spiderbots...find her," he muttered into his comm.

...

After running for about 10 minutes, Megan felt her migraine fade along with a good amount of her crankiness. However, she was still mad at Gary before trying to give her starstream daisies. Didn't he know how much they bothered dark users like her? A second thought pointed out that she had never told him about her 'special needs' as a dark user but her rage silenced that adding how Matt had unfairly ganged up on her.

"I don't need him telling me what to do," grumbled Megan as she shifted into her Lady NegaMorph form, "I can stand on my own."

A recorded voice say "We want you." a snippet from a NSC army recruiter video and Megan turned to see several spiderbots crawling out.

"If you think you can drag me back there, you have another thing coming," said Megan as her hair tentacles started writing up like snakes.

"There's safety in numbers," said another, utilizing a clip from a training video. Suddenly, they paused and started turning this way and that as if they were trying to find something.

Megan stopped at that as spiderbots, also known as 'oh god, not the face' to many people, never paused. A third used a clip from a film of 'They're coming out of the walls' as several stocky creatures came into view, using the shade to avoid the sun shining through the canopy.

"Oh, very fun. I guess you guys overheard Gobber's story too," said Megan.

"Nobody knows...any stories," said one spiderbot, using a mix of snippets before they folded out their weaponry.

"Vhat are teeny things?" asked one of the creatures in a very thick voice.

"Not important, she ez," said another.

One of the spiderbots chose did another mix 'Hey, shorty...get...lost or...we will...EXTERMINATE!' finishing with a snippet from Dr. Who.

"Beetles not scary," said another creature, "Beetles make yummy snacks."

The spiderbots immediately began repeating the 'EXTERMINATE' soundbite before scuttling at the new creatures, Megan wincing as the first few victims found out that spiderbots disagreed with you.

"Maybe I should go somewhere else now," said Megan before spreading her wings and taking off. She flew until she was out of sight, landing...and being hit by a bola. The bola was well-aimed and snared her wings, keeping her from flying off again. She decided to get away the old fashioned way: running.

"We catch joooo...owie!" came a cry from behind, the 'owie' happening with the classic 'wheee' of a lunging spiderbot.

Megan kept running as fast as she could. She glanced over her shoulder to check behind her when she ran into something. She screamed until she saw it was Gary. "Megan, I was just trying to find you so I can apologize..." said Gary before noticing her snared wings, "Uh, what's going on?"

"Trolls...Gobber...sock...left one...spiderbots...EEP!" gibbered Megan, out of breath before eeping as more trolls came into view.

Gary would have question what she just said but then he saw the trolls coming. He placed himself in front of Megan and shouted at the trolls, "Back off!"

The trolls stopped before all laughing with 'hur hur hur' noises.

"Leetle human ez making funny joke," said one troll.

"Me have stick thicker than hez puny arms," said another troll.

Gary glared before saying, "I'm not stick, I'm stone." He changed into his gargoyle form and roared at the trolls.

The trolls simply watched. They'd encountered far scarier things, a distant 'whee' indicating one was close by. "Yu no scary, stoney person," said another.

Gary growled and made his eyes flash white. "You're not getting Megan without going through me first."

"Ha, mine cat vuld put up better fight," said a troll.

Gary snapped at that, lunging...and being swatted into a rock and knocked out. "Gee, thanks a lot, Gary," said Megan sarcastically. However, before she could go pick him up, another bola suddenly flew out and wrapped around her legs.

"Ve haz prize...ve now vun before angree metal bugs get us," said the leader.

Megan tried to get her legs untied but the trolls quickly swarmed over her, binding her arms and stuffing gags into her mouths. The metallic sound of the approaching spiderbots could be heard, confirmed when what sounded like a cavalry bugle was heard, though the fighting noises quickly got quieter.

"Quick, pick her up and get moving. No, put hands under-" said one troll before one of the trolls dropped Megan and made her whack her head against a rock.

...

NegaMorph was watching another of Matts training lessons with an amused grin. He never realized how fun watching pratfalls from a great height was. "You'd think being a third dragon would make riding them easy," said NegaMorph, "But then, it wouldn't so much fun."

A scuttling noise got his attention and NegaMorph looked down to see a spiderbot nudging his foot.

"You guys again? What do you want now?" he asked.

"Your princess is in another castle," chimed the spiderbot with every tone indicating it was serious.

"What?" asked NegaMorph, not quite understanding.

"The princess has been kidnapped," tried the spiderbot, using another sound clip.

"Kidnapped, wait a minute, you're not saying..." started NegaMorph.

The spiderbot made a dinging noise from a game show soundtrack, briefly getting the attention of Matt and the kids down below, though Matt distracted them by accident by falling down again.

"Who did it?" snarled NegaMorph, "If they damaged one hair or tentacle on her head..."

"The trolls, the TROOOOLLLLS!" said the spiderbot, hopping up and down before making a sighing and grabbing NegaMorph's leg.

"Oh no," said NegaMorph he was suddenly flung through the air.

...

Surprisingly the other spiderbots were waiting to catch him when he arrived...at least it seemed that way, till they jumped aside at the last minute to reveal a granite rock. "I hate you," muttered NegaMorph before he impacted.

A short time later, Matt was in the forest where the spiderbots had tossed NegaMorph. "Ok, you have my attention. Now what's this all about?" asked Matt.

"The bots here say someone snagged Megan and I found Gary out cold...still hasn't come round," said NegaMorph, pointing at where the spiderbots had deposited Gary.

"Any idea who or why?" asked Matt.

"Spiderbots insist it was trolls." said NegaMorph in a bored tone

"Trolls...like what Gobber was talking about?" said Matt, not sounding very believing.

"Apparently so, plus I found some statues in the sunlight that look new," said NegaMorph.

Matt soon spotted three statues, roughly manlike in shape except being quite shorter than he was. However, these things had long arms that nearly scraped the ground, cow-like tails, huge noses, large ears, shaggy hair on their heads, and ugly features that varied like protruding fangs, warts, scars, or horns.

"Those...look very realistic," began Matt before he was given a heart attack by Gary yelling "MEGAN!" behind him

Matt yelped and accidentally knocked one of the statues over. It rolled down the small incline out of the sunlight until it hit a tree and broke. However, instead of just being rubble, the dust cleared to show a flesh version of the statue rubbing his head. "Ah, stupid sunlight, me hate being stone," grumbled the troll.

Matt stared for a second before snarling angrily as he caught on and grabbing the troll, lifting it surprisingly easily. "Start talking or I'll break you where the sun doesn't shine," growled Matt.

"Yu hooman, release me hooman," said the troll angrily before screaming in a high pitch as Matt shifted to Hybrid form.

"I'm also dragon, so start talking or I show you what my insides look like," growled Matt.

"Ew, really? You haven't any idea where he's been. But you could probably take a good guess from his smell," said NegaMorph.

The troll gulped. "Ve come from under big rock," he said and screaming again as Matt roared in his face.

"Try again," snarled Matt, his eyes going red.

"Matt, we can't rescue Megan if we roast him," said Gary.

"Sure we can, we have two spares," said NegaMorph, pointing at the other stone trolls.

"Big rock, dat big rock!" screamed the Troll, pointing with its free hand at the mountain.

Matt, Gary, and NegaMorph both looked up at the mountain. "That's as a big a rock as you can get around here," said NegaMorph, "Perhaps we can narrow down exactly where, if the little cretin's vocabulary is big enough."

"If I tell...you not eat me?" tried the troll.

Matt thought about it, "Deal, where's the door, tiny?"

"Teeny? Me have yu know me am very large for me age," said the troll.

"Yeah, you must be more than this," said NegaMorph, holding up eight fingers to reflect how many the troll had.

"Black blob man creepy," said the troll with a shudder.

"He is, and it's his niece that your buddies kidnapped," said Matt.

"Oh zis is bad," muttered the troll before being carried along by Matt.

...

"It's a cliff...where is the door?" said Matt in an angry level voice while glaring at the trio's captive.

"Door hidden, else lookyloos vander in," said the troll.

"Open the door or I break parts of you off," snapped Matt.

"Ok, ok, put me down first," said the troll.

Matt dropped the troll before pointing at the angry-looking NegaMorph and Gary...and the dozen spiderbots. "You betray us...they get you," he said, having chosen to stay in hybrid...though his wounded wing from his Changewing encounter still hurt.

"Ok, ok," said the troll before walking over and pulling out an inconsequential-looking rock from the cliff. A door, so finely aligned to the rock to be invisible, suddenly shot open at that, revealing a darkened cave beyond.

"Ok...let's go," said Matt, walking inside.

"Shouldn't we call for backup?" asked Gary.

"No, we can handle these guys. We brought spiderbots," said Matt.

However, as soon as Gary and NegaMorph walked in, the troll quickly slammed the door shut before the spiderbots could get in. "HA!" he cried before the door suddenly exploded and the rubble buried him.

"Double ha," said the lead spiderbot as they scuttled in.

"Gotta love those spiderbots. Cause mayhem, boys. By the time we find Megan they'll beg us to take her and you guys away," called Matt cheerfully, the spiderbots splitting up while the gang headed down the main tunnel.

After some time, Gary said, "I would have thought there would be more trolls down here."

"Maybe they're on snack break," said Matt.

Suddenly, NegaMorph's back vibrated and he unfolded the tip of one of his spines to reveal a cell phone. "I got a text from Megan," he said.

Matt looked over NegaMorph's shoulder to see the text saying "Know you are coming...leave...will end badly for you if not."

"Oh, how polite, she is being locked in her quarters for the rest of the trip," Matt said.

"She's clearly sent us a warning," said Gary, "Maybe the trolls are more dangerous than we thought."

"I dunno...it seems different from that," said Matt.

"One thing's certain, we're not leaving here without my niece," said NegaMorph.

Matt looked round the corner to see several trolls on guard. "How quaint...guards," he commented.

NegaMorph cracked his knuckles and said, "They're gonna be wishing they didn't have this shift."

Matt grinned evilly. "Coming Gary?" he said.

The trolls on guard looked in confusion as a trio of...things walked round the corner, one looking human, though his aura betrayed him. "One chance, boys...take a coffee break," said the human-like one.

"What's coffee?" asked one troll.

The human grinned and pulled out a waterskin, before shoving it in the demon one's mouth, amid complaints. The demon started twitching as its many eyes started bugging, accompanied by a disturbing giggling.

The human grinned and pulled back, with some difficulty, the waterskin and tossed it to the trolls before saying "Quick...save the coffee."

The curious trolls sniffed at the waterskin's mouth, intrigued by the interesting scent within. "Vhat thez?" asked one.

"MINE!" screamed the demon before shooting at them.

...

Megan wasn't having as nearly as bad a time as the others were thinking. She was getting really comfortable when she heard the sound of frenzied fighting, accompanied by manic giggling. "That would Matt, or Uncle Nega if Matt gave him coffee again," said Megan.

A second later, the stone slab doing cover as a door exploded outwards, causing the trolls inside the room to jump before a black blur shot around the room bashing trolls left and right until it stopped to show NegaMorph sucking like crazy on a leather waterskin with an insane look, Matt and Gary walking inside.

Gary struck a heroic pose and shouted, "Megan, we are here to rescue you from the trolls'..."

"Manicure," finished Matt flatly.

Megan did indeed appear to be having a manicure, though the troll responsible was currently embedded in the wall thanks to NegaMorph who was now eating the waterskin. Megan was seated on a silver throne and was wearing a tiara on her head, along with various necklaces, rings, bracelets, armlets, anklets, and tailrings. She gave a bored glance at the group and said, "It figures you guys would show up. I guess I'll have to move the foot rubs ahead of schedule now."

"Megan, get down from that throne right now," snapped Matt.

"Hmm...no, I really like this throne," said Megan, "Though it could use a few more cushions."

"It wasn't a suggestion," said Matt, his voice echoing as his temper rose.

"Hey, yu no talk to beauty goddess like that," said one of the few guard trolls still standing. Matt stopped at that, Megan jumping as she sensed pure anger before Matt simply blasted the troll.

"Megan, I don't understand..." said Gary.

Megan sighed and said, "It's simple, by troll standards, I'm the most beautiful girl they've ever seen and thus they think I must be a goddess. This is why they've been giving me the royal treatment."

"Megan, you cannot stay here. There are rules. You're not supposed to be here," said Matt carefully

"So what? The timestream doesn't make much mention of trolls, does it? As far as anyone would know, I was spirited away like every other human beforehand," said Megan.

"No...NO...you WILL come...with me or I will...make you," said Matt, seeming to snap as glowing lines appeared around his angry eyes.

"I think the king here has objections to that," said Megan smugly. Matt seemed to not care before he noticed something bad, turning to stagger back from a whack. Megan looked impressed that he was still up before a final blow knocked him out

The king of the trolls could easily be identified in being taller than the other trolls, the small cloak hanging from his big shoulders, and the golden crowns atop his two heads. NegaMorph, still on cloud coffee simply lunged at him. The troll king snorted loudly with both heads before spitting two big loogies at NegaMorph. Where the spit hit him, his body grew hard and grey which started to spread all over. When he did land, which was shorter than he must have intended, he was a marble statue.

Gary, who was shaking Matt awake, watched in shock. "Wow...nasty," he muttered.

"Now, Gary, I know you're much more reasonable than both Matt and Uncle Nega. Wouldn't you agree that I deserve this?" asked Megan.

"Yes...but not like this. You just let two of your friends get hurt, ma'cherie," said Gary, Matt groaning "Uuuurgh...what hit me?"

The troll king lifted them both up by the back of their shirts. "You no want intruders?" asked one head.

"Me could smash them if you want," said the other.

"No, no, just take them to the dungeon for now. I think they can be reasoned with, but they clearly need more time to think about it," said Megan.

...

Gary sighed in defeat, Matt still only semi-conscious and NegaMorph still a novelty garden gnome. "This cannot be happening," he muttered to himself. The three of them were in the dungeon, in one of the larger cells meant for dragons. If Gary had to guess, the runes along the bars were there to keep dragons from forcing their way out, which will keep Matt from simply breaking out once he fully came around.

A cracking noise occurred and Gary jumped back as NegaMorph finally smashed is way out. "That...was...disgusting...really? Petrifying bogies?" he said.

They heard the shimmer of a shadow portal and they looked up to see Megan emerged from one outside their cell. "Uncle Nega, I thought you'd be waking up around now," she said.

NegaMorph's large eye blinked as the pupil in it changed from blue to grey then back to black. "Wow, that's a lot of avarice and vanity you're giving off," he said.

Matt nodded weakly, a bandage showing how bad the bash had been.

"Well, that's sort of expected from a rich beauty goddess, isn't it?" said Megan.

NegaMorph rolled his eyes and said, "Ok, I know those flowers made crankier than usual, but you're really taking this too far."

"Matthew is badly hurt. Can you not see you are hurting your friends?" snapped Gary.

"Oh, he couldn't be that hurt," said Megan.

"He hasn't made a sarcastic comment since he's woken up," said Gary.

"Oh, that bad? Ok, maybe I should help speed up his healing," said Megan, her hand glowing black.

Matt's eyes immediately shot open the instant the spell's glow appeared on his wound, the pupils pinpricks before his back arched and he began screaming uncontrollably. "MEGAN, STOP IT!" yelled Nega.

Megan thought Matt was just feeling the pain from the sped-up healing but then she started seeing smoke coming from her scalp. She quickly stopped and said, "I'm sorry, I don't know what happened. That was supposed to be a simple healing spell."

Matt was out cold again, the bandage soaking red. "Maybe the same thing that turned Kala into a walking fireball. Elementals are neutral...but they hate darkness, especially the energy-based ones," said NegaMorph thoughtfully before seeing their faces and saying "Hey, just a theory, but we really need to get him out... NegaMorph tried to open his own shadow portal, but he couldn't to get it going. "Don't tell me, they shadow-proofed this room," said NegaMorph.

"No, the king's spit weakens magic. You won't be able to open a proper one for a few hours," said Megan.

"Why didn't you stop him?" demanded Gary.

"Well, I didn't know Matt would be hurt that bad and you guys were going to spoil my fun..." said Megan, starting to sound ashamed.

"Warning...severe cranial injury detected...autodoc treatment required..." chimed Matt's wristcomp before it beeped "Error...anomalous energy based DNA detected."

"Ok that cinches it. We need to go, you especially. You have the only working shadow portal, Megan," said Gary, seriously.

"Ok, ok, I'll just go tell the king that Matt needs help and we need to head back to the surface," said Megan.

"Thank you, Ma'cherie." said Gary with a smile.

...

The troll king was sitting on the throne when a shadow portal appeared and the dark goddess appeared. "Erm...King? You might have hit my friend a little too hard," she said.

"Me thought you say his head really thick," said the troll king.

"Well, I didn't mean that quite that literally," said Megan, "Or maybe it isn't as thick as I thought it was. Anyways, he really needs a healer and I need to take him back above ground."

"No...you betrothed to me son...yu stay," said the King's right head.

Megan paused and said, "Excuse me, I'm what?"

"Yu marry me son, ze prince. Stay here forever," said the kings left head.

"Uh, I am definitely sure I never agreed to that, especially the 'stay here forever' part," said Megan.

"Actually you do not have a choice mine dear. Zat jewelry you are vearing haz limited your portal range to this cave netvork," said a small voice.

Megan looked around and asked, "Who said that?"

"Oh, that me other head," said the right head.

"He didn't talk," said Megan.

"No, me other other head," said the left head before the troll king pulling his collar down, revealing a smaller head on his chest.

Megan just stared before the head sighed "You try living vith zese idiots in the same body zen ve will see how much you talk."

Megan glared. "Huh...you think your two bit spells can stop me?" she said before opening a portal, shooting down it and being shot back out, the jewelry glowing red.

"Az I said mine dear, most of us may have the brains of moldy cheese but ve very good enchanted items," said the middle head, rolling its eyes.

Megan glared before saying, "Fine, then I'll blast a new tunnel out." She turned and started shooting her laser vision at the wall.

"Ve thought of zat too," said the middle head, as nothing happened, "Vould you like to meet ze groom? JUNIOR!"

There was a loud thud, followed another loud thud, and a third louder thud. As the thuds continued, Megan realized they were footsteps. "He iz such a big boy. Sadly all the muscle vent into hiz arms instead ov hiz heads. I'd stand further avay if I vere you, darlink," said the middle head.

Megan quickly scrambled back in anticipation. There was a pause before a really tiny troll walked through one of the cave entrances. "That's your son?" asked Megan incredulously.

"No, zat iz just ze Royal Zahnarzt," said the middle head.

On cue, the wall next to the tiny troll exploded outwards and a troll head swallowed the tiny one. "JUNIOR! NO CHEWINK ZE HELP1 I do apologize mine dear," said the king as a much larger troll walked through, one head chewing.

Then the other head's mouth opened and the tiny troll hopped out. "Your teeth are okay," he squeaked before clambering down the large troll and scampering away.

Megan looked at the 'prince' and said "I'm marrying that?" in a deadpan tone

"Him biggest and strongest troll in kingdom," said the left head.

"Takes much after me," said the right head.

"Not quite enough," said the middle head a little bitterly.

"No...not a chance...I'm not marrying that guy," said Megan, backing up.

"Of course you are," said the middle head, "No one else deserves you."

"No, as in I refuse to marry him." said Megan, now realizing she was against the wall.

"Sorry, but ve trolls don't accept refusals to marriage proposals, only overthrows. Not like zat vill happen," said the middle head, "Besides, you vouldn't vant your friends to miss out on ze happy occasion, vould you?"

Megan smiled a little before saying, "Since the wedding's on, I want my guests be fully healed before the ceremony. I just need to talk to them a few minutes before they go."

"Very vell, mine dear. But try anything unt zey vill be zee reception dinner," said the middle head.

"Whatever you say, your majesty," said Megan, one of her left hands crossing fingers behind her back.

…

Gary and NegaMorph looked up as Megan came back into the jail, Matt having deteriorated to the point that his face was pale and he was sweating.

"Guys, I've gotten you a way out of here, but there some complications," said Megan.

"Which are?" asked Gary.

"I...have to marry the troll prince," said Megan.

...

Chloe sighed as she kept stalling the kids before pausing, "Did anyone hear someone yell 'Noooooooooo'?"

...

NegaMorph sighed. "Thanks, I never liked my eardrums that much, Gary," he said.

"Hey, I'm not happy about it either," said Megan, "But there's a loophole. If someone beats him in a fight, he has to give up his claim on me."

"I'd just be stoned again...and thanks to your fiancé's dad, Matts out of commission..." snapped NegaMorph before everyone turned to look at Gary.

"What? Me? Er, I prefer not to brawl unless I have to," said Gary.

"It has to be you, I don't want anyone else having a claim on me," said Megan.

Gary looked around before sighing "What have I got to do?" he said gloomily

"You have to challenge the prince to a fight and win. I don't think it matters what kind of fight, just so long as it proves you're strong," said Megan.

NegaMorph grinned "Escape...or seeing Gary pulverized...win/win." he said to himself, rubbing his hands together.

"I think Matt's leaking brain pan is a more eminent problem," said Megan, "Just get him rested up and then come back and crash the wedding."

NegaMorph sighed. "Fine," he muttered.

Matt moaned something at that, gesturing Gary close. "Matt...what is-URK!" said Gary before being grabbed round the throat. "Kick...that guy's...arse," managed Matt before letting go.

"I can't wait any longer. I'm getting you guys out," said Megan as she opened a shadow portal.

...

The trolls looked up as Megan reappeared. "Ah, mine dear. I trust your friend iz still among ze livink," said the middle head.

"I sent him to a healer," said Megan, "He'll be back as soon as he's recovered."

"Zen vy are zey still in ze cells? I know everything zat happens in my mine," said the middle head calmly.

"I only sent him, he need an express ticket out and he really, really needed to be healed," said Megan.

"Unt how do ve know the void valker vill not return?" said the middle head, annoyed.

"Your door's pretty well hidden and Matt's terrible at guessing games," said Megan.

The middle head seemed to consider this "Fine...but if he tries to return..."

"I don't think he'll coming back to soon," said Megan.

"Fine...let uz proceed," said the middle head.

"What? Now? Isn't there supposed to be a waiting period between the proposal and the actual wedding?" asked Megan.

"Ve don't believe in dilly dally...ve begin...chop chop," said the middle head, before looking at his companion heads. "Clap, you ninnyhammers!" he snapped. The two heads started clapping their hands. "Twice is enough, dumpkoffs," said the middle head.

...

Gary looked around before looking at NegaMorph. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Trust me, it's the best way to keep in shape and warm up," said NegaMorph.

Gary sighed before charging NegaMorph. However, NegaMorph easily sidestepped Gary before tripping him up and making him fall. "Too easy to predict," said NegaMorph, "You can't just charge, you do something unexpected before you hit."

Gary got up a little unsteadily. "How does Matt do it? That's what he does."

"You need to figure out your own style," said NegaMorph, "Figure out what goes best for you. Now, let's try some kicking."

Gary immediately got up and aimed a kick at NegaMorph only for a tentacle to send him flying. "Ok...ow," he groaned.

"Tut, tut, shouldn't leave your legs unguarded," said NegaMorph.

Gary gave him a suspicious look and said, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yup," said NegaMorph happily.

"Aren't I supposed to defeat the troll prince to save your niece from an awful marriage?" asked Gary pointedly.

"Yeah...but beating you senseless is a bonus. Now we'll try projectile dodging," said NegaMorph, making several fangs appear in his fingers, for throwing.

"Is this even necessary? I'm pretty sure the prince is more into bashing than anything else," said Gary.

"Probably not...but I'll never get another chance for this," said NegaMorph evilly.

"I'm starting to think the things Matt has said about you are justified," said Gary.

"Oh they were," said NegaMorph, before throwing a spread of luckily, sterile fangs

There was a series of 'poiks' before Gary yelled, "YEOUCH!"

"Oh, don't be such a big baby. They're only in skin deep," said NegaMorph.

...

Matt groaned, slowly coming too to find himself being looked down on by Chloe. "What hap-?" he began before Chloe clocked him one. "Ow! Watch the head!" snapped Matt, rubbing his sore cranium.

"You nearly got killed...I had to tell the Vikings that you fell off a cliff," snapped Chloe.

"No, I got bonked on the head," said Matt.

"By what? An ogre?" demanded Chloe.

"Close, a troll, the king of the trolls if you want to know," said Matt.

"You're kidding." said Chloe deadpan

"No, and he wants Megan to be his daughter-in-law," said Matt.

"What?" said Chloe, going bug-eyed.

"But don't worry, Gary's going to fight the troll prince for Megan's hand and he has NegaMorph for back up," said Matt. He looked at Chloe and said, "You seem upset."

"I am...I'm actually surprised you're not," said Chloe a little nonplussed.

Matt shrugged and said, "Things happen. I bet Gary will be alright."

"Me too," said Chloe, puzzled by Matt's mood, "Er, don't you want to get payback for nearly being bonked to death?"

"Mmm...nah. I don't really feel like it," said Matt.

Chloe looked surprised. Usually Matt loved a good death threat. It was an excuse to kick arse. "Matt, I heard NegaMorph has sold some of your stuff on another island," said Chloe.

Matt shrugged. "I hope he got a good price," he said, his eye twitching a bit.

"You know what, before we head on to the trolls, let's stop by the wharf...to pick up a wedding present," said Chloe.

"Ok..." said Matt with a faint grin.

...

Gary groaned, rubbing his head as NegaMorph stepped back, tossing Gary his club. "Ok, again," he said.

"Where did you even get these clubs?" asked Gary.

"The guards lent them to me," said NegaMorph.

"How'd you managed to get them to do that?" asked Gary.

"Oh, I promised them just what they're getting," said NegaMorph.

"What's that then?" asked Gary before noticing the guards were watching. "Oh...right," he said gloomily.

"Smash him good!" called one guard.

"Quiet!" snapped Gary before being knocked senseless by another blow.

"Ok, five minutes break," said NegaMorph, "If you're not up by then, I'm gonna have to slap you awake."

A third troll came in at that "You...you know leetle robot spider peoplez?" he said accusingly.

"Maybe, I know lots of robot spiders," said NegaMorph, "Let me guess, they're been in the armory or treasury."

"No...dey makink lots of holes in walls, roofs and floor, chasink digger dragon," said the second guard.

"Digger dragon? I shouldn't be surprised there is one, but is that what they're spending all their time on?" said NegaMorph.

"Yah...zey also hittink us a lot," said the third guard gloomily.

"That sounds more like them," said NegaMorph.

"Anyhoo, eet iz time for weddink. You come now," said the first guard.

"Oh, already? We...haven't anything appropriate to wear," said NegaMorph who was nudging Gary with his tail.

"Er..." began Gary only for the trolls to grab them. "No dress code here," said one of them.

"But there are other guests that ought to be arriving," said NegaMorph.

"No...you only guests. YOU COME NOW!" said the troll, roaring in NegaMorph's face

"Ok, ok, geeze," said NegaMorph, mentally adding, 'I hope someone shows up soon.'

...

Matt looked around confused at the dock, Hiccup and Astrid watching. "So you think the bash on his head's mellowed him?" asked Astrid

"Ruffnut and Tuffnut bash heads all the time and they aren't very mellow," said Hiccup.

"Matt's a bit softheaded sometimes, but I know something that ought to upset him," said Chloe before kicking Matt off the dock.

Matt landed in the water with a splash before coming back up. "Hey, what did you do that-" he started before the Scauldron suddenly snatched him up.

"So...your plan was to get him eaten," said Hiccup dully before there was a 'ptui' and Matt landed head first on the dock, steaming slightly from the hot water.

"Ow," he said faintly

"How ya feeling now?" asked Chloe, prodding Matt with her boot.

"Where's that smeghead who HIT ME?" yelled Matt.

"He's better now," said Chloe.

"I KNOW WHERE THEY LIVE! CHARGE!" yelled Matt, running past the gang...until the toxin kicked in and he fell flat on his face, snoring.

Chloe sighed and said, "I guess we won't be rushing in to the rescue any time soon."

...

Megan sighed as NegaMorph and Gary were dumped in a corner before the middle head said "Ok, ve begin. Iz everyvon here? VERE IZ ZE GROOM?!" he yelled, noticing his son was missing.

"Him getting ears cleaned," called a troll.

Megan shuddered and muttered, "I hate to be the troll who has to do that."

On cue the wall exploded outwards and the groom walked in, the right head chewing suspiciously. The king sighed and the middle head said, "Son...spit out your ear cleaner."

The right head snorted and spat out a very miserable looking troll. "Ears are all clean," it said before scampering off.

"Ah, now ve begin. But before we start...does anyvun vish to lay claim?" called the middle head.

Gary gulped before calling, "Yes, I vish, I mean, wish to lay claim."

"Very vell, ze shrimpy vun shall do combat," called the middle head.

"What do you mean, shrimpy one?" complained Gary

The prince's heads snorted before cracking his knuckles. "Don't worry, Gary, I believe in you," called Megan.

Gary whimpered as a hand like a small car grabbed his throat. "Mummy," he whimpered before all present winced as Gary was thrown around.

"Personally, I'm putting more faith in that either Matt or the spiderbots do a timely intervention," said NegaMorph.

There was a crunching noise and Gary flew overhead to skid to a halt at Megan's feet. "Hi...ma'cherie...this is exactly as...oh no," he managed before being pulled back.

Megan sighed and muttered, "Where are those spiderbots anyways?"

...

The Whispering Death that called Berk home wasn't usually afraid of anything. It had even once bested a Night Fury. That had changed...since...they had arrived barely an hour beforehand.

What looked like spiders wearing metal armor had invaded its tunnels. The Whispering Death tried to kill the spiders with spikes and fire rings, but the small creatures weren't harmed at all.

"The game's afoot," called of the spiders in an artificial voice, wearing some kind of hat.

The Whispering Death decided to evade these strange invaders by digging into new areas. But everywhere it went, those little creatures seem to be waiting for it. A rumble was heard before the whispering Death was tackled...

...

Meanwhile, the other rescue party was about to break into the trolls' lair and save the day. Once they find the door, that is.

"I'm sure it was here," said Matt, turning to Chloe, Starflame and the kids.

"You said that 5 minutes ago," said Chloe, "Are you even at the right cliff?"

Matt pulled Chloe close. "I need to use explosives to do it...get me?" he hissed.

"And if you put them the wrong place, you'll bring the whole mountain down on us. Or at least one third of it," said Chloe.

"When did I ever do that?" said Matt.

"What about the time you were trying to get us into that hidden bunker?" said Chloe.

"Ok...once...but this is different," said Matt stubbornly.

Meanwhile, the kids were looking at the cliff themselves. "There has to be some clue as to where the hidden door is," said Hiccup.

"Maybe it has something to do with the taste of the rocks," said Fishlegs. He licked a rock on the wall and spat in disgust. "Ok, maybe Meatlug's a better judge of rocks," he said.

Meatlug wandered over to the rocks before taking a deep bite out of a section, revealing a tunnel and a surprised troll. "Hey, yu broke ze door," complained the troll.

Matt stared before yelling "GET HIM!"

The troll tried to run back into the tunnel, but Meatlug grabbed him by his tail, causing the troll to yelp. The troll finally opened its eyes to see Matt's upside down grin. "Ok, take us to your leader. Always wanted to say that," said Matt cheerfully.

"Uh, king iz busy vith vedding right now," said the troll.

"We're the party crashers," said Chloe, with an equally creepy grin.

"Prince von't like vedding being invaded," said the troll.

"Ask us if we care," said Matt, the cheerful tone vanishing at high speed

"Er, you know that's just a watchman, er, watchtroll, right?" asked Hiccup.

"Yes...so he'll know where Megan is," said Matt icily.

"She iz in big ceremony cavern, can't miss it," said the troll.

"Show us...or I feed you to my dragon," said Matt.

Starflame gave a predatory grin, though she was actually thinking _'That dirty thing? I haven't any idea where he's been. I'd probably chew him a little at most.'_

The troll yelped and practically dragged Matt along...and literally. Chloe sighed and looked at Hiccup and Astrid. "You two coming?" she asked.

"I think we better stay here so we'll be able to go as soon as you get out," said Hiccup.

"If you can get any gems, I wouldn't mind some," said Astrid.

Chloe nodded. "I thought it was dragons that had...never mind," she said.

As soon as the Lynches were in the tunnel, Chloe said, "You think it was a good idea to leave them behind?"

"Hey, this just means we can use our guns without having to answer awkward questions," said Matt.

Chloe nodded, pulling her blaster out before a rumbling was heard.

"What was that?" asked Matt.

Suddenly, a large snake-like dragon with a large round mouth burst through the wall, with spiderbots sitting between its spines. One spiderbot was on its head and wearing a cowboy hat. "YEE-HAW!" called the spiderbots, clearly from an old western movie.

The duo watched in polite disbelief before the terrified dragon dug into the opposite wall. "Well...we know where they are now," said Matt before hearing what sounded like a fight down the corridor. "Ooh, I hope we're not too late to watch Gary fight the troll prince," said Matt.

"Gary's fighting who?" demanded Chloe.

"Did I forget to mention that?" asked Matt.

Chloe nodded before a painful crashing was heard. "Someone's losing." The duo reached the door in time for Matt to be hit in the face by a thrown Gary.

Gary looked up and gave Chloe a dazed look. "Ah, reinforcements have arrived," he said, a little slurred, "Thank goodness you brought so many."

Chloe looked confused "But there's just us tw-ooooh boy."

"Gary, did you forget that you could change into a gargoyle?" asked Matt.

"Gargoyle? Oh, yes, well, he didn't give me enough time to change," said Gary.

"Then use the time...you have," moaned Matt from ground level.

Gary closed his eyes in focus and soon started to change. A pair of feathered wings ripped out of the back of his shirt while a leonine tail sprouted out. His boots were ripped apart by claws that also appeared on his head. Once his ears became pointed and his horns grew in, he gave a roar to show he had finished.

Matt managed an 'eep' before a crunch was heard and Gary slipped down into a new impression of himself. "Get...off," rasped Matt.

Gary stood up and off of Matt. "Sorry about that," said Gary, "Greater body mass I suppose."

Chloe dragged Gary, with some difficulty, to his feet. "Ok, rule one of fighting: visualize that troll as everything that you despise, everything you hate, like telemarketers," she said.

"Ok, I think I can manage that," said Gary.

"Ok...you angry?" asked Chloe.

Gary nodded. "Yeah."

"I can't hear you," said Chloe causing Gary to say "Yeah!" a little louder.

"LOUDER!" snapped Chloe, causing Gary to scream "LET ME AT EM!"

Chloe nodded. "All ready.

Gary managed a "Wait, wha-" before being kicked back into the ring.

"Hey, how come puny human look different?" asked one of the trolls.

"I'm not just human, I'm a gargoyle," said Gary.

"Hmph, gargle still scrawny," said the troll prince's left head.

"Now we really rassle," said the other head.

NegaMorph, in classic experiment form had set up a bookies board, with poor Gary having the highest odds. He'd had the idea when he'd seen several of the smarter trolls betting gems and his internal greed sense had swung round to 'cash alert' NegaMorph spotted Matt and Chloe as they walked in. "Hey guys, wanna get in on the betting? If you put something on Gary, there'll be a big payoff," he said.

"NegaMorph...are you betting against your niece's boyfriend?" snapped Chloe.

"Well, I put a little side bet on him, but I put most of it on Gary getting knocked senseless twice," said NegaMorph.

"NEGAMORPH!" snapped Chloe before she saw that Matt now had a betting slip.

"What? I'm betting that he's going to win with all his limbs still attached," said Matt.

"Ah, ah, that includes the tail and wings," said NegaMorph.

"So?" asked Matt.

"And breakages," added NegaMorph, causing Matt's face to fall.

...

The prince looked confused at Gary before looking at the king who shrugged, the middle head saying "Zere iz no rule against thropes."

"Hmph, still scrawny shrimp," said the prince's right head.

"Just scrawny shrimp vith vings," said the left head.

"I'm tougher then I look!" snapped Gary, still angry. That just made all the trolls start laughing loudly. "Stop LAUGHING!" snapped Gary, Matt noticing that Chloe looked pleased with herself.

"Huh, didn't think your pep talk would have that much of an effect," said Matt.

"It didn't...but the Candet012 patch I out on his shoulder will. I found a crate of them in the base," said Chloe happily, causing Matt to double take.

"Uh, Chloe, those patches were banned," said Matt.

"Since when?" asked Chloe.

"Since about a few months after you first disappeared," said Matt, "They had a high chance of causing the users to go into frenzies."

NegaMorph said "You mean like that?" pointing to where Gary was actually lifting the prince.

"There was one other problem: they wore off really fast too," said Matt.

Gary's muscles may be stronger in gargoyle form, but not strong enough to lift the troll prince without enough anger to motivate him. As such, he quickly buckled and the prince landed on him with a splat. "Ha, that's the second time he's senseless, I win!" called NegaMorph.

Matt glared at Chloe at that as Gary slowly got back up. "Any other advantages you gave him?" he snarled

"Uh, go Gary go?" said Chloe a little weakly.

"Oh sure, moral support, that'll turn the tide," said NegaMorph sarcastically.

...

Megan however was watching in horror as Gary was pulverized. "Oh...Gary," she said, wincing at a snap followed by Matt yelling "Dammit!"

"I'm...not giving up...yet," said Gary as he got back up, only for the prince to flatten him against the wall. Gary slowly pulled himself out and said, "I'm...not beaten...until I quit."

"You lose puny person who is puny," said the prince's left head.

"Beauty goddess mine, she no want loser," said the right head.

"No...she is not yours," growled Gary, his eyes going yellow while Chloe shrugged to herself.

"Yes she is," said the left head.

"And you can't do nothing, weakling," said the right head, shoving Gary back.

Gary snapped at that, his gargoyle form growling larger and more monstrous. "This'll be good," said Matt, sitting back to watch.

"I...won't...LOOOOOOSSSSE!" roared Gary as he fully entered his monster form, becoming slightly taller than the prince. Suddenly, his body started to bulge as his muscles grew. His arms became much longer and the claws on the end became sharper. His skin started to turn a stone grey as his body started to grow in size. His face quickly started distorting, stretching out into a draconic muzzle while his horns grew longer and his hair disappeared. The Viking clothing he wore wasn't enchanted to grow with his body so it all but ripped apart as the monstrous stone gargoyle roared in fury.

The prince looked up and the heads said "Uh oh." before Gary grabbed them by the shoulders, flipped them over and began bouncing their heads off the floor

"Huh, I was wondering when he'd get around to that," said NegaMorph.

...

Megan watched with a smirk as the king watched, open mouthed as his son was pummeled.

"Guess your boy isn't the strongest guy around here anymore," said Megan.

"Zere is still a...never mind," said the middle head as his son was thrown into the wall, falling back out cold.

"Alright, ze match iz over, you can stop," called the middle head.

Gary turned snarling before seeing Megan and shifting back down to his half-form. "I won?" he said to himself.

The king however said, "Ok...letz get ze vedding going vonse my son comes round."

"Hey, wait a minute," said NegaMorph, "You said that if someone could beat your son, he could claim Megan instead of him."

"I lied, I'm evil, vat did you expect, demon?" said the king's middle head as his guards moved in

"Well, I guess we will be blasting our way out after all," said Matt as he got his blaster out.

Just then, a rumbling shook the room. "Is that what I think it is?" asked Chloe. Suddenly, the Whispering Death burst through the floors with spiderbots all over its back. The king and trolls jumped back in horror as the terrified dragon whipped around, causing the spiderbots to fly in every direction with 'wheee' noises and latch onto victims.

"Ok, didn't see that one coming," said Megan.

"Me and Chloe did," said Matt.

The Whispering Death, finally free briefly considered trying to eat the spiderbots and then had a laundry list of thought why it was a terrible idea, before leaving.

Gary grabbed Megan and called, "Let's go."

"Just a second, I need to grab my winnings," said NegaMorph as he grabbed several handfuls of gems.

"Let's just go." yelled Matt, firing a yellow beam from his blaster that turned a lunging troll to granite. "RUN AWAY!" yelled Chloe

"Spiderbots, chaos mode, get everything that's moving!" yelled Chloe, the spiderbots beginning an attack on any troll in range as the gang ran for the exit.

However, one troll managed to get through and tried to slice at Matt with his sword. However, it got his sun blaster instead. Matt dropped it in shock, the damaged power cell beeping as it began to overcharge. "RUN FASTER!" he screamed, shooting to the front of the pack.

The group quickly barreled through to the tunnel, with the trolls who weren't incapacitated by the spiderbots fast behind them.

...

Hiccup, Astrid and the dragons however were outside. They had heard some4 of the fighting noises echo out. _"Matt'll be ok,"_ said Kala toward Stormfly and Toothless.

_"I hope so. It sounds like they've upset the whole mountain,"_ said Stormfly.

_"That'll be Matt alright. He can upset people on planets he isn't even on yet,"_ said Kala proudly before a yell of "RUN AWAY!" was heard, Matt and company coming into view. _"And he usually bites off more than he can chew."_

"What the-" started Hiccup as Matt ran out.

"Just keep running and don't look back or...you'll turn into a saltlick!" he yelled.

"Or just be blinded for life," added Chloe as she ran by. The kids and dragons looked up to see a horde of angry trolls, led by a huge three headed one heading up the tunnel. The kids quickly got on their dragons and took off. They didn't even have time to notice there were others flying behind them.

On cue, a blast of pure light shot out the tunnel, frying the trees in its path before cutting off. When the light cut back off, all the trolls had been stonified. "Look...we won," commented Matt, from Starflame's back.

"Assuming they won't eventually turn back to flesh and come after us again," said NegaMorph.

"Not unless some dumbarse casts a spell to do it," said Matt, turning to look past the kids and say "Right, Megan?"

"Yes, though I don't think anyone would want to do that," said Megan.

"That mean we can go back and loot their caverns later?" asked Astrid.

"No, there were...more dangerous creatures in there," said Matt.

A second voice said, "Where should we land, ma'cherie?"

"Wait, how are you all flying?" asked Hiccup as he started to crane his head back.

"Don't look back, there's still some magical radiation and stuff. Very dangerous," called Chloe.

"Really...do not look back," said the 'ma'cherie' voice.

Hiccup kept looking forward, but he had a feeling there was something going on behind them that wasn't as dangerous as they said. "Let's land...LOOK FLYING FISH!" yelled Matt, pointing while also apparently pointing down.

Hiccup heard the flutter of large feathered wings and turned back. However, there was nothing behind them except Matt and Chloe riding Starflame. "What are you looking at?" snapped Matt. Hiccup shrugged before turning back, only the dragons hearing Kala snigger.

Suddenly, it occurred to Hiccup that Megan wasn't there and he quickly turned around. However, Megan was behind Chloe on Starflame. "What?" asked Megan.

"I, uh, I'm just surprised Starflame can carry that many people," said Hiccup.

Starflame had a bug eyed look, snorting in draconic _"I can't smartass."_

Fortunately for Starflame, Chloe noticed the frantic flapping of her wings and her panting. "Uh, I think we need to lighten the load," she said.

"Sure, who wants to bail out?" asked Matt.

Chloe and Megan looked at each other before Chloe said "Sorry, Matt." pushing Matt off.

"Argh, tricky females!" yelled Matt before hitting a few branches and landing on the forest floor.

Luckily, the revenge he wanted occurred as he landed on Gary. "Ow! What did I do?" yelled Gary.

"I'll...think of something once I come round," moaned Matt.

...

A short time later, the gang had returned to the village and recounted their tale to Gobber, at least as much as they could share. "So let me get this straight. After Gary managed to defeat the troll prince all on his own, the lot o' you accidentally broke a magic gem that caused the trolls to turn ta stone permanently before ya all ran away," said Gobber.

"Er...yes," said Matt, as innocent as a puppy next to a puddle on the carpet.

"Right...then I supposed ya arm wrestled a frost giant for a huge mug of mead," said Gobber sarcastically.

"No...was I supposed to?" said Gary, in a shaking voice.

Gobber laughed and said, "Good story, but it still doesn't outdo Mulch's 15-foot eel story. Ha, wrestled down the troll prince, that'll be the day."

Matt's eye twitched and he got ready to snap only for Gary to get there first, yelling "IT'S TRUE!"

"Sure it is, lad," said Gobber, patting Gary on the head, "I bet you showed that smelly brute what for."

"I did too," muttered Gary to himself.

"Welp, I got a Hideous Zippleback with a sore tooth to pluck. Not sure which head it's in yet," said Gobber before walking off.

Gary just stared. "He...he didn't believe us. I went through all that...and nobody believes me," said Gary in a tiny voice.

Matt patted Gary on the shoulder and said, "Well, we couldn't have told them you turned into a big gargoyle and such, but I'm pretty sure you've proven yourself to someone."

Gary sighed before Megan hugged him. "Like me," she said.

Gary smiled and said, "I suppose there's that."

"Yeah, I guess he did alright," said NegaMorph, apparently indifferent. Chloe glared at him before giving him a small electrical zap. "Ow, I mean, I guess he made a little proud, just a bit, don't put too much stock in it."

"Uh, guys, do you mind if me and Gary have a little alone time to talk?" asked Megan, "Somewhere private?"

"I don't think that should be a problem, right, NegaMorph?" said Matt.

NegaMorph rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "Sure, I bet you'll have the same attitude with your own daughter's out with her boyfriend."

"Shut your mouths," said Matt before grabbing him with plasma control and dragging him off.

Chloe turned to Megan and Gary and said, "Whatever you want to talk about, I wouldn't take too long. Matt'll only keep NegaMorph in check for so long."

…

Megan and Gary went to the cliffs above the Dragon Academy, a considerable distance from prying eyes. "So, Megan, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" asked Gary.

"Well, I mainly wanted to apologize about the way I've been acting earlier," said Megan.

"Well, you were having a hard time adjusting to the lower setting of civilization here," said Gary, "I should have tried to have been more supportive."

"No, it was no excuse," said Megan, "I turned against you guys for luxury and I nearly got Matt seriously hurt because of it. Not to mention the way I hurt you. Gary, I am really sorry about being mean to you earlier. I shouldn't have put gifts in front of you."

Gary said, "It's ok. It wasn't you talking. I should have paid more attention to you in the first place," he said, kindly.

"No, no, there was nothing wrong with you. It was all my fault," said Megan, "Could you ever forgive me?"

Gary said, "How could you say such a thing?" before gently taking Megan's hands and saying, "Of course, mon cher."

Megan smiled and said, "You're the best guy a girl like me deserves."

"And you're the best girl that anyone deserves," said Gary. Then both leaned forward and kissed.

NegaMorph landed on a distant rock, muttering about Matt's temper when he spotted Megan and Gary kissing. For a second, he saw red before shrugging. "Ah, they earned it."

* * *

There's another chapter. This one doesn't directly involve dragons, but trolls have been mentioned in the film. I'm not really sure if they actually exist in the series, but we'll dabbling in Norse, and the occasional Greek, mythology during this story. It's almost a pity that we won't be dealing with trolls again but we'll be certainly get a lot of other stuff to make up for the relative lack of villains in the show.

However, next week we actually will be dealing with one of the show's villains. To find out who, just wait for it to pop up in 7 days. Please review.


	4. Grotesque Misconduct

**Voyagers Saga**

**Broken Nest**

**Chapter 4: Grotesque Misconduct**

Raids were not at all uncommon near the seashore in these barbaric times where Vikings sail the sea. But though Viking raids could be notoriously brutal, they haven't yet been able to match up to what the Marauders were capable of doing.

The Marauder squad leader looked down as the fort commander was dragged towards her. "Let's try from where we left off before your men turned stupid: where is Captain Lynch?" she asked.

"I don't know. I never heard of him. I hope he gets his foot bit off by a clam for causing all this trouble," said the fort commander.

"That brings me to some good and bad news," said the captain.

"Are they relevant to me?" asked the commander.

"Well, first off, we're going to leave and check elsewhere," said the captain reasonably as the commander's guards moved away.

"Oh, too bad, so sad," said the commander sarcastically.

"Well, that brings us to you bad news: I'm going to vaporize you," said the captain, pulling out a blaster and firing a orange beam into the Viking's chest, the luckless commander vanishing with a scream that cut off. "Make the attack look like it was another local tribe. We'll try inland. MOVE OUT!" the captain called, waving her men back to their gunship.

…

Things on Berk were a little less settle than usual because they had just received a message. It seems that Dagur the Deranged is coming with a small armada of Berserkers and the dragons needed to disappear.

"So...this Dagur guy's completely insane?" said Matt, standing next to Starflame. He'd decided to stay on Berk until he 'graduated' which wouldn't happen till he learnt how not to fall off from 30 feet up.

"Well, he didn't get the name 'the Deranged' for being reasonable," said Stoick in a dark tone, "Not like his father, Oswald the Agreeable."

"Yeah, though we'll still need to trade here every so often. Some of us have real...appetites," said Matt, aimlessly before looking ahead, "Oh, here they come. Any advice for dealing with Dagur the Dufus?"

"For starters, don't say anything about dragons," said Stoick, "Secondly, he will push your temper so it's best to have someone cool-headed around to keep yourself in check."

"I'm perfectly cool headed," protested Matt, a distant buzzing coming from the ship approaching.

Stoick glanced towards the ship before dismissing the noise and saying, "Also, Dagur has a tendency to pick on kids smaller than himself. Hiccup and Fishlegs usually fall into that category, but you might want to keep him clear of your own."

"Believe me, he picks on Lilo, he'll be in traction before the day's out," muttered Matt to Starflame who nodded.

"It's mostly boys who aren't manly that are his favorite target," said Stoick, "Which makes me worry about Gary."

"Gary's tougher then he looks, I assure you." said Matt, adding, "If Dagur tries to hurt any of my crew, I'll feed him to that sea dragon that's stalking me."

"Why do ya suppose it does that anyways?" asked Stoick.

"It's the fates annoying me again," said Matt darkly, stomping off and leaving Starflame to give Stoick a confused shrug with her wings before following.

Eventually, the moment they've all been dreading had arrived. The Berserker ships had entered Berk's harbor and were getting ready to dock.

"Ten-shun," said Matt, the disguised marines all standing to attention. When the gangplank lowered, Matt could guess which one was Dagur, seeing as he was the youngest-looking, had a mad twinkle in his eyes, and his helmet had long horns that seemed somehow familiar to Matt. "Ok, like I said, play nice for now," said Matt quietly.

"Dagur, it's good to see the son of my old friend," said Stoick, his teeth slightly gritted.

Dagur looked around with a lofty look before focusing on Matt. Dagur strode on over to Matt. Now they were closer, Matt could notice they were about the same height, though the horn gave Dagur an extra foot on him.

"Is there a problem, sir?" said Matt, using the same tome he would use to call someone a 'smeghead'.

"You're not from here," said Dagur, "I know all the men on Berk, and most of what they might call 'men'."

"I'm from...Britannia. Me and my men have settled the area," said Matt in a neutral tone, returning Dagur's gaze.

"Ah, Britannia, I hear the people are really easy to plunder there," said Dagur.

"You haven't met my men, have you?" said Matt, the two now seemingly waiting for the other to blink.

"And you haven't gotten a good look at my men, have you?" responded Dagur.

"I can think of 6 ways I could have killed you and your men before you even finished getting on shore. Your security is sloppy and overconfident," said Matt, forgetting himself briefly to give a professional opinion.

"And your men look like they couldn't carry a single log between them," said Dagur.

"Really? Xander?" said Matt, a mountain of a man, walking intro view at the head of the dock, the planks audibly creaking and cracking. "He's big," said Matt

Dagur glanced up at Xander and said, "Hmm, you crew seems to have its characters of note. I think you've earned my tolerance...for now."

"Good, but let's be clear; if any of my men have...accidents, don't sleep," growled Matt quietly, his eyes blazing blue for a second.

"Ooh, a tough one," said Dagur, apparently missing the blaze, "You wouldn't happen to have Berserker blood in you, would you?"

"That comparison has often been made," admitted Matt. Matt stopped as he noticed Dagur look aside and spot Lilo, who was the only one not at attention, chatting to Stitch and Sue who looked annoyed thanks to the 'collars' they had as a disguise. "I wouldn't if I was you. Size isn't everythiiiing," warned Matt, grinning as he hoped against hope that Dagur would ignore the warning.

However, what Matt didn't know was that Dagur wouldn't ignore a challenge, especially if it involved something mean. He strode over to Lilo and said, "Hey kid, those are some ugly dogs of yours."

"Oh, he's an Egyptian blue-furred ectoplasmic detection hound." said Lilo with her usual happy demeanor.

"He's an ugly mutt," said Dagur before looking at Sue and said, "And an even uglier weasel." Luckily nobody saw Sue use her middle claw to make a very human insult as Dagur turned back to Lilo. "You don't look like a Viking," he said nastily, causing Stitch to growl.

"Matt says I'm too young to pillage," said Lilo.

Dagur glared at that. "Is that supposed to be a joke? I was pillaging at your age easily. You look weaker than Hiccup," he said, Matt covering his eyes in horror given that there were some instincts that EXP added...such as always taking a prompt to cause mayhem like Dagur's.

"Bet I can throw you into the water before you can," said Lilo. Stoick also heard that and started forward to try and diffuse things when Dagur went to grab Lilo. Nobody outside the crew were sure what happened, other than one second, Lilo's arm had been grabbed and the next one, Dagur was half way through an arc off the dock The Vikings started at Lilo with shock. "The trick is to let your opponent build up momentum and then use his weight against him," she said.

"We've travelled," said Matt quickly, before pulling Lilo aside. "Much as that was fun..." he was heard saying as a confused Dagur pulled himself up on the dock, with an impressed look.

"So, it looks like your crew can fight after all," said Dagur as he walked up to Matt, "I could like you, if you swore loyalty to me of course."

"You can't afford me," said Matt darkly

"Your loss," said Dagur.

"Uh, Dagur, perhaps now may be a good time to tell us why you've come here," said Stoick, "The annual treaty-signing isn't for several months."

"I'm here because something's used dragons to destroy 3 of my outposts," said Dagur loftily.

"What makes ya certain it was dragons who did it?" asked Gobber, "Not that we train dragons."

"All the outpost soldiers had been burnt as had the buildings," said Dagur.

"Musta been wild dragons then," said Gobber, "They can be pretty nasty."

"There are no wild dragons near my lands. Plus, my men found this," said Dagur, pulling out a helmet with a half symbol on it and tossing it down.

Stoick picked up the helmet and looked at it. "Hmm...this is very peculiar," he muttered.

"I know, it's used by you," said Dagur.

"That looks like one of the helmets I sold a few years back," said Gobber, "Souvenir helmets were a big thing back then. Everyone wanted to collect one helmet from each clan."

"You expect me to believe that?" said Dagur with a laugh.

Matt spoke up at that, "No, but my sq...clan's been trading for food with them for the last week or so and I've been here on business. Nobody could have hit your outposts and gotten back without my men noticing...even if they flew."

Stoick glared at that, "I told ye the first time, we haven't got any dragons here."

"Then you wouldn't have a problem with me trying to find them," said Dagur.

"Yer wasting yer time," said Stoick.

"It's my time, I can waste it however I want," said Dagur.

Matt watched as Dagur walked up the dock before saying "What a little whiny creep."

"I much preferred it when his father was chief," said Stoick.

"I can see why. You know...I don't usually...but if you wanted him to have a few accidents. I could arrange a discount," said Matt, apparently talking to the water.

"Well, as tempting as that would be, it would start a war. And Berserker are known to fight until-" started Stoick before there was a splash. Stoick turned around and saw an absence of Matt. "Where'd he go?"

...

Gary and Megan had decided not to attend the 'welcoming' of a guy that Hiccup and company agreed was the biggest jerk in existence though they had all watched as Lilo had flipped him into the drink.

"Well, I suppose we ought to be standing out of his way," said Gary.

"So...how bad is Lilo's new punching bag?" joked Megan, looking at Hiccup.

"Well, let's just say he likes practicing with knives, mostly to see how close he can come to hitting you," said Hiccup.

"Hmm...I'd pay money to see him try that with Matt. He gets really annoyed if you poke him without permission some-oh and there's that dragon again," said Gary, pointing out where Matt was glomped and pulled into the water

"You know, we ought to think up a name for him if he's going to keep showing up like that," said Megan.

On cue Matt was shot out the water again, landing somewhere far behind them. "How about Spitter?" suggested Gary before a happy whistling was heard from Matt's oceanic tormenter.

"Nah, not slimy enough," said Megan.

Lilo had walked over by then and said, "How about Steampipe?"

"Why Steampipe?" asked Hiccup.

"Because he can shoot steam out his nostrils and make a piping sound," said Lilo.

"I like it...now can someone fetch a ladder?" called Matt, from where he had landed in a thankfully unlit torch tower.

"I'll get it," said Gary before walking off.

...

Gary finally found a ladder, with some bird's nest direction from Matt (who, with nothing to do, had fallen back on the traditional 'being a smartarse' pastime) found a shed near Gobber's. Gary checked the rungs and said, "Ok, I think this will do. I just hope Matt hasn't been eating too much."

"Well, what have we here?" said a voice behind him.

"Of course," said Gary to himself in French. He looked up to see Dagur leering over him. "Uh, hello," said Gary.

"You're new here, from the new crew, I bet. But you're not Britannia, are you?"

"Er, my family is, but I was raised Fra...in Gaul," said Gary.

"Oh, a Roman's pet then," said Dagur with amusement.

Gary gave him an annoyed look and said, "I was not a pet, I was a servant. To a very respected family I'll have you know."

"Still a pet in my eyes, Gaul. How much did they pay for a scrawny thing like you?" said Dagur, clearly enjoying Gary's discomfort.

"It was a family-born thing," said Gary, "My parents worked for them."

"I can see why you were sold then," said Dagur, amused as Gary glared. "Is anything the matter?" he asked tauntingly

"No...nothing's...wrong..." said Gary, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to pull my friend off of a tower."

Dagur blocked the way for a minute. "Not yet, the captain claimed you and your companions are his equals, his 'men', so you should be able to fight."

"I don't see a reason to fight," said Gary, "There's nothing to fight about."

As Gary tried to walk past Dagur, Dagur stuck out his foot and nearly tripped him up. "I think I can think of a few things to fight about," said Dagur, "Like how I don't like your face."

"I don't want to fight you," tried Gary, trying to get back to his feet again

"Let's see how quickly I can change your mind about that," said Dagur, snatching the ladder away from Gary.

"Hey, I need that," called Gary, a little overloud in the hope someone more reasoning turned up.

"Oh, and how are you planning on getting it back, shrimp?" taunted Dagur.

"I...I..." began Gary before hanging his head. He couldn't very well use his...skills against Dagur, not without exposing the crew.

"Just what I thought," said Dagur before using the ladder to knock Gary onto his back, "You're about as manly as Hiccup, and that's not much."

Hey, what the hell you doin'?" called the voice of one of Matt's men at that.

Dagur glanced towards him before saying to Gary, "I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other." He then dropped the ladder on Gary and walked away.

Chris ran up shortly after. "Gary, you ok? That jerk do anything?"

"I'm fine. A little dirty, nothing to worry about," said Gary.

"You sure?" asked Chris, clearly not believing a word.

"Of course, it's nothing that I can't endure. I mean, he is an honored guest and it would be very rude to strike out against him," said Gary.

"You are allowed to kick his ass if you want," said Chris.

"That isn't the way that gentlemen solve their differences," said Gary, "Now I need to help Matt get down before something decides to use his head as a nest."

...

"He tried to fight you?" snapped Matt.

"Well, I didn't accept his challenge, isn't that important?" asked Gary.

"No...I mean yes. You did the right thing. Bullies have short attention spans. He'll get bored if you don't rise to it," said Matt.

"Then that's exactly what I intend to do," said Gary.

"Good...and if he does hurt you, rip his liver out. Works for me," said Matt cheerfully.

"That hardly seems polite," said Gary.

"No...but it's good for stress," said Matt.

After Gary walked off, Lilo commented, "You know, Gary's the only person I know who probably wouldn't be affected by Manners' powers. Or at least not noticeably."

"Yeah, people need to let loose otherwise they go mad...insane..." said Matt, before Chloe muttered "And then they join a mercenary company."

"Well, how long will it take for him to give up finding a dragon army?" asked Lilo.

"The dumb tend to be hard to get bored," said Matt.

"Three days, that's my bet," said Chloe.

"You think he'll keep looking that long?" asked Lilo.

"No, but he'll have worn out Stoick's patience by then," said Chloe.

...

As it turned out, Dagur kept himself amused by tormenting Gary. During the first day, it was typical schoolyard bully stuff: trapping him in boxes, dangling him from a tree, he even stuffed a live eel down his shirt. However, Gary took Matt's advice and ignored it and it appeared to be working.

"Are you made of stone?" Dagur finally snapped.

'Sometimes,' thought Gary before saying, "No, it's just that we Gauls have an exceedingly long-lasting patience. We can wait out just about anything."

"I noticed," muttered Dagur before suddenly smirking, "You know, Gary, I'm starting to like your style. How about we bury the hatchet?" Gary reflexively covered the top of his head. "It's...a phrase...usually," said Dagur, pulling a waterskin out his pack. "Here, to our future victories," he said, offering it, Gary noticing some white smoke coming out.

"Is this kr'ta?" he asked

"I never heard of that stuff. But it's a special elixir that only we Berserkers know how to make," said Dagur, holding out the waterskin, "Here try some."

Gary wasn't sure he wanted to, because that reminded him too much of kr'ta, especially the way the drops from the spout hissed when they hit the ground. However, Gary knew that Matt was still breathing so, with a shrug, he gulped down a sip and coughed. "Got...a kick," he said weakly.

"Yep, so, wanna chase down some wild hogs and butcher them?" asked Dagur eagerly.

"I...I need to go...hurt...the captain..." said Gary, twitching a bit before walking stiffly towards where the gang was resting.

Dagur shrugged and said, "More swine for me then." He took a swig from the waterskin before his eyes bugged, he started frothing at the mouth, and then he let a loud yell before charging off into the woods.

...

Matt looked up to see Gary walk in. "Hey Gary...you got a second?" he asked.

"Yeah...what about?" asked Gary, twitching slightly, his stomach feeling a little unstable.

"Look, I know things have been hard and we're roughing it..." said Matt, as Gary walked up.

"Kinda hard to miss..." said Gary, his fist clenching and unclenching a little sporadically.

"You ok? You need anything?" asked Matt, looking in close before being pushed in the shoulder. "Don't do that," he said immediately.

Gary's eyes glowed yellow for a second before snapping, "Oh yeah, why shouldn't I?" He shoved Matt in the shoulder again.

"Because when that's done more than two times everything just turns into a red haze of death and I never remember how I get covered in stuff," said Matt.

"Oh, you mean like this?" asked Gary before shoving Matt a third time.

Matts left eye twitched and a faint grin appeared.

...

Megan and Chloe were passing as Matt walked out. "So...what happened?" Chloe asked.

"Punched him in the face," said Matt casually before walking onwards.

Megan and Chloe paused at this for a moment before quickly walking to the room Gary was in.

Gary was embedded in the wall. "What happened?" he groaned.

"You shoved Matt three times, didn't you?" said Chloe.

"Did I? The last thing I remember is having a drink Dagur offered me," groaned Gary, as Megan tried fruitlessly to pull him loose.

"And you accepted it? Gary, even Morph could tell you that was a bad idea," said Chloe.

"Really?" said Megan, causing Chloe to concede "Well...maybe not Morph, but anyone else..."

"Well, it would have been rude to pass up," said Gary.

"Gary, rudeness is not that big a factor around here," said Chloe, "I mean, just watch one of the Hooligans for about five minutes and you'll see that manners aren't a high priority."

"We're talking about the five minutes being mealtimes, right?" asked Megan.

"No, Vikings classify honor...erm...you seen Star Trek?" said Chloe, pushing out for an example. Gary just stared blankly. "Ok, let's try something else. These guys go for honor, especially in combat. Any other manner goes down the toilet. This is basically a civilization of Matts," said Chloe finally.

"No wonder Matt barely lifts an eyebrow around here," said Megan.

"No, really, it's nothing I can't turn the other cheek about," said Gary.

"It won't work. I doubt Dagur is smart enough too," said Chloe before sighing, "Don't accept any more 'presents' from him...and stay near one of the team at all times."

"I'll...try my best," said Gary.

Megan sighed and said, "C'mon, Gary, let's get you something non-toxic to drink."

...

Dagur watched from the sidelines, annoyed. His search had found nothing except vanishing sheep and his new 'hobby' now had a bodyguard: the man mountain of a newcomer who had a frighteningly realistic impression of a dragon growl.

Still, Dagur had enough time. That scrawny twig can't be under watch all the time. And maybe a bigger dose will make him a little more combative. He grinned before turning to find the man mountain looking down at him. "Is there a problem, sir?" said the man, looking strangely serene for someone who looked capable of picking up a longboat without difficulty

"Not at all, just wondering when Gary can come out to...play," said Dagur, his eye twitching at the last word.

"The cap...the chief made it quite clear that if you came within 3 feet of Mr. Gary that I was to crush you to the size and shape of a ball and throw you out to sea," said the man calmly.

"You can't be telling our chief what to do," said one of Dagur's bodyguards, pointing his sword at the giant's gut.

Xander looked down before effortlessly pulling the sword out of the guard's grip by the blade. "A demonstration? Are we watching closely?" he said before effortlessly bending the sword into a corkscrew and passing it back politely. "I trust the situation is now clear, gentlemen?" he said calmly before walking back over to Gary.

Dagur and his bodyguard looked at the twisted sword. "Where did that Lynch fellow find this guy?" asked the bodyguard.

"I don't know, but I want one," said Dagur.

"I'm unique," called the man, Xander, causing the two to jump.

"Still, that wimp Gary's had a taste of the Berserker way," said Dagur, a little more quietly, "It's only a matter of time before he wants more.

...

Over the course of the day, the gang has noticed Gary seemed to be loosening up regarding manners. For instance, there was a little matter of the small belching contest...

"...and me old dad said nobody ever got it that far again, hence me name," said Gobber, the gang all looking pale.

"It's the story version of Matt's singing," said Chloe distantly.

"So I think that makes me a proper judge when it comes to gaseous expulsions. Now then, boys, let's see your war faces," said Gobber.

Matt looked over at Gary. "You sure you want to be here? You're not really a burper," he said.

"Well, when in Rome, right?" asked Gary.

"Wow...go for it then, my man." said Matt, impressed.

"Ok boys, get ready to chug," said Gobber, putting down large mugs of frothy beverages.

Matt looked at his before sniffing it and gagging. "What the smeg is this?" he asked.

"Yak milk, oyster juice, some pine sap for texture," said Gobber, "Just what you need to build up a big belch."

"That sounds like poison." said Matt weakly.

Chloe said "We've eaten worse." causing Matt to shrug and down his mug in one shot.

Gobber sighed, "Even I never did that, it's the taste, wait for it..." he said.

Matt's stomach made an interesting sound as his throat seemed to bulge a bit. "That's a burp?" asked Megan weakly.

"No, definitely more solid, stand back," said Chloe.

Matt gagged and ran outside, a hurling noise heard from outside. "Now then, everyone else...on yer marks...get set...chug," said Gobber cheerfully.

Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Gary all took a big swig from their mugs. They've seen from Matt's example not to drink too much. Snotlout was the first to let rip, his burp actually causing dust to come down...sadly he had been looking at Chloe at the time, resulting in Chloe lunging at him.

Fishlegs was next. He didn't get too much in the volume department, but his breath making some flies drop dead had to count for something. Tuffnut followed, causing Chloe, who was mid-way through choking Snotlout to look around.

Gary clutched his belly as it was giving a pretty loud gurgle. "Whoa, looks we'll be getting some jetsam," said Gobber. Gary grimaced before his face partially contorted and he let out a massive burp. The burp grew in size and deepness until it seemed more like Gary was roaring. A flock of Terrible Terrors that had been hiding in Gobber's house immediately took flight and flew out the door, one flying through Fishlegs' burp and theatrically falling down, spinning on its hindlegs before falling over.

After a bit, Gary ran out of gas and he noticed the others looking at him. "Uh, excuse me," he said a little bashfully.

"You're a natural, kid," said Gobber, impressed.

"Not exactly what I'd call natural," said Chloe, fanning the air away from her face.

Gary stopped at that. "Wait...those dragons flew right out...WHAT IF DAGUR SAW THEM?" he said panicky.

"They're Terrible Terrors," said Gobber, "They're small, but not stupid."

"We need to get them back right away," said Gary before heading towards the door. Gary ran out, looking for any sign of the flock and as such wasn't looking where he was going, running right into Dagur.

However, Dagur had something else on his mind. "Did you see the dragon?" he asked excitedly, his sword at the ready.

"Dagur, I can explain," said Gary.

"Where is it? With a roar that big, it had to have been a Thunderdrum," said Dagur.

"Erm...yes...I...saw it...out to...sea?" Gary said carefully and about as convincing as NegaMorph holding Matt's wallet.

"No, it had to have been here. Where are you hiding it? I knew there were dragons here," said Dagur, pointing his sword at Gary.

"Of course there aren't any dragons here," said Gary desperately.

"Gary?" Gary glanced back to Megan walking outside, looking concern.

"Yes, Ma'cherie?" said Gary, forgetting not to use modern French for a minute

However, that's when Dagur walked on over to her, taking a step on Gary's chest along the way. "Well, well, who do we have here?" he asked leeringly.

Gary glared at that. "You do not touch her!" he snapped, getting back up.

"Or what?" asked Dagur, "You think you could defend her better than yourself?"

"I will _kill_ you if you touch her!" shouted Gary.

Dagur just laughed at that, albeit his twisted demented laugh. "And here I though you didn't have any backbone at all," said Dagur, "Looks like that pick-me-up worked after all."

"What was in that drink?" said Gary angrily, grabbing Dagur and lifting him up.

"Sorry, special Berserker secret," said Dagur, "Can't tell you...unless you wanna join."

"You...YOU!" snapped Gary, now lifting Dagur off his feet.

Matt walked into view at that and stopped. "GARY, PUT DOWN THE DELEGATION!" he yelled. Gary turned and snarled at Matt, his yellow eyes and sharp teeth making his face look demonic for a moment. "GARY!" snapped Matt. Gary seemed to snap out of it then, dropping Dagur in favor of clutching his head.

Matt stomped forward and took his turn to grab Dagur, effortlessly flooring the bodyguard who lunged without even looking. "I warned you what would happen," he growled.

"They're harboring a dragon here. I heard it," said Dagur.

"And the reason you are poisoning my men?" said Matt, angrily.

"It's not poison. My men and I take it all the time," said Dagur with an eye twitch.

"That gives you no leave to slip my men something that is clearly making him ill. I could kill you so easily...and not even leave a body. DON'T PLAY STUPID WITH ME!" Matt snapped, actually roaring.

"What's going on here?" Gary, Matt, and Dagur looked to see Stoick giving them a disapproving look.

"This...scum tricked one of my men into taking some kind of elixir that almost sent him mad. So I'm going to kill him, is that ok?" said Matt a little manically.

"That's not how we do things on Berk," said Stoick, "We settle them in a sensible and honorable manner."

"Do we have to?" said Matt before looking disappointed, "Fine."

"Now, tomorrow, we'll settle this with a match in the arena," said Stoick.

"With swords?" asked Dagur eagerly.

"With staffs. We don't kill just because someone displeases you," said Stoick.

Matt looked around before seeming to finally notice he was holding Dagur and letting go. "That's good..." he said before hissing into Dagur's ear, "Matt's in agreement that you need some bones fractured."

Dagur wasn't sure why Matt was referring to himself in the third person, but it was hardly the first time he heard someone do it. "And Dagur is going to turn Gary black and blue," he hissed back.

"Hah, you have no idea what that kid can do. On his bad days I once saw him rip a T-49 tank in half, have fun," said 'Matt' with a manic grin.

_'You know Gary's never done anything that violent,'_ said the real Matt's voice in his head, _'The worst he'd done is bash peoples' heads until they're out cold.'_

_'True, but I like to make jerks squirm,' _replied Draconus.

The Matt personality gave a little mental poke before turning their head towards where Dagur was attacking a tree stump with his blade like an angry wood chipper. _'Yeah...I can see the terror,'_ said Matt sarcastically.

_'He's hiding it. He's just taking out his fear on that stump,'_ said Draconus.

_'Can I have the wheel now? I need to show Gary how to use a stick without hurting only himself,'_ said Matt.

_"Fine...only if I get to control one of the eyes at the fight. It's boring in here,"_ said Draconus.

_'__Deal, but if you make me dizzy, it's our stomach that suffers,' _said Matt.

_'__It's a deal...'_ said Draconus before relinquishing control.

...

Matt tossed an ion staff over, modified to only tazer, to Gary. The two were out the way in a clearing. "Ok, let's get going," said Matt.

"Matt, have you ever been taught to use a quarterstaff?" asked Gary.

Matt pressed a button on his own ion staff, a second blade appearing and turning it into the staff mentioned in the name before spinning it. "Close combat was kinda mandatory," he said.

"Ok, and wood is supposed to be less painful than this, right?" asked Gary.

"Pain is your motivators. Dagur will probably try to kill you 'by accident'. Me and Draconus are in agreement...in fact, he'll be helping," said Matt, before suddenly yelling "THINK FAST!" and taking a swing.

Unfortunately, Gary didn't think fast enough and got a blow to the shoulder. "Ow," he yelped, "You didn't tell me to get ready."

"Dagur won't," said Matt, in a crueler tone that indicated Draconus was 'helping' before he delivered a triple blow that ended with Gary on his back.

Draconus placed the tip of his staff on Gary's sternum and said, "If you wanna beat a barbarian, you need to start thinking like one. You can start by forgetting about chivalry and all that other crap that doesn't exist yet."

"But...OOF!" began Gary before a blow winded him, Draconus saying "You're dead...up and try again."

Gary got up and but quickly got knocked back down again. They did this a few times before Gary said, "Can you at least let me get into position? You're not giving me a fair chance."

"What are you going to do about it, sissy?" asked Draconus, poking Gary again.

Gary's eyes suddenly went yellow as he shrieked, "I am not A SISSY!"

Draconus jumped back, blocked several rapid fire blows that the furious Gary threw at him. "That's more like it, tiny," laughed Draconus.

Gary just screamed and hammered forward with frenzied blows. Soon, Draconus found himself mostly on the defense. "Ok, that's enough kid. You're fighting to unconscious, not the death," said Draconus, desperately before blasting Gary back with a low powered blast. Gary was knocked back, but almost immediately sprang up and charged at Draconus with a savage yell.

Draconus glared and span, whacking the back of Gary's head with his staff as Gary charged by.

Gary fell to the ground and sat back up a few seconds later. "What just happened?" he asked, looking completely bewildered.

"You freaked out, man," said Draconus with a laugh.

"I did?" asked Gary before clutching his stomach and groaning.

Draconus walked forward before grabbing Gary and peering a little too close for comfort. "Yup. Whatever that idiot, Dagur slipped you is still working its funky fun. Guess the ingredients aren't good for gargoyles," he said before noticing he'd lifted Gary up, who was turning blue. "Oops," he said, dropping Gary again.

"I...I don't feel so good..." said Gary before he started gagging.

"You barf on me and I'll tear your spine out and floss with it," said Draconus, backing up.

Gary staggered over to behind a tree before a vomiting sound was heard.

"Ok, we could use this. I wanna try something Gary. It seems a certain word may trigger your freak out," Draconus called.

"Do we have to right now?" asked Gary as he staggered back, "I feel sick."

"Well...I do have an idea," said Draconus.

"Wait...urgh...you think a single word could cause me to-" began Gary, only for Draconus to say casually "Sissy." -KILL THAT DAMNED VIKING WHEN I FIGHT IM!" finished Gary.

"Thata boy. Now how about putting that rage to good use and-" started Draconus when Gary let out a frenzied cry and delivered a kick right into the universally vulnerable spot.

Gary immediately came down from the united states of fury to realize what he'd just done. "Erm..." he said before Draconus said in a rasping voice. "1...2...3..." causing Gary to flee.

It just so happened that Megan was coming over to see how the training was going. She was almost there when Gary ran past her. "Hey, Gary, what's-" started Megan.

"Can't talk, gotta run!" yelled Gary.

A few seconds later, a boulder exploded and Matt, under Draconus's control, charged through the rubble. "WHERE IS HE?" he roared.

"Er..." said Megan, not really sure if she should tell him anything.

"Don't bother, I can smell his fear," growled Draconus before pausing and telling Megan in a civil tone, "You two make a nice couple. You have quite a few things in common."

"Really?" asked Megan, causing Draconus to say "Yeah...you got a kick like a mule." before he ran off.

Megan filtered this through before realizing what Draconus was referring to, since Matt never let that particular one down. "What could have possessed Gary to do that?" she remarked.

...

The dragon academy was again the arena. Dagur's crew was all in attendance. "Sir...you sure you want to do this? Killing another clanmember even accidentally, too easy if this Viking's as weak as you say," said Dagur's second.

"I think he's grown a few vertebrate since last night," said Dagur, "I hope I get some sort of challenge. It'll be too easy if it ends before the first minute's up."

"We don't need a war. We don't even know what's destroying our outposts," said the second, slightly desperately.

"You know, you're taking all the fun out of beating," said Dagur, sounding annoyed.

"We just need to make it look like an accident. This new clan will be tied to the same rules as the others," said his second.

"Whatever," said Dagur, "Where is that shrimp anyways?"

"Heading to the arena, last I heard," said Dagur's second before cheering was heard from above, "That ought to be him." The two looked around to see Gary walking into the arena, alone. "That's odd, where's his second?" asked Dagur's second.

"Oh, so he thinks he's man enough to fight me on his own, does he?" said Dagur before snapping at his second, "Get out, I won't have that twig one-up on me!"

"Yes, chief," said the second, walking out and up to the rim, seeing Matt, "Confident little sprout, isn't he? Not taking a second?"

"A second what?" asked Matt.

"To take over when he dies." said the Viking, causing Matt to pale.

"When he dies?" he said weakly, his voice seeming to echo like two people were talking at the same time.

"Well, it's supposed to be until one of them's knocked out, but we Berserkers can get carried away," admitted the Viking.

"WHAT?" snapped Matt in the same dual voice before saying in a normal voice, "We got to stop this."

"We? I just put-" started the Viking.

Matt interrupted by saying with a slightly different voice said, "Can't we wait until Gary's taken a few hits to the head."

The Viking was about to reply before Matt said, "Tempting, but no. I'm not taking chances."

"You ok?" said the Viking carefully only to be clocked in the face and knocked out, Matt saying "Now look what you did," before saying "He looked at us funny."

…

Meanwhile, Gary was getting into position, trying to remember what he had learned from Matt...which only made him a bit more nervous. A second later he was forced to jump back to avoid a slash from Dagur. "Listen, Dagur, there is a better way of dealing with frustration than through aggression," said Gary.

"Oh shut up," snapped Dagur, aiming another swipe.

Gary held his staff in a defensive position as he said, "There really is no need to be brutal. You can be surprised how many situations can be solved by simply talking."

A second later, a quarterstaff hit Gary on the head. This stunned Gary enough for Dagur to knock him off his feet. "This is really disappointing," said Dagur, "I expected an easy fight, but this is too easy. I guess even with some elixir, you're nothing but a sissy."

"Sissy? SISSY?" snapped Gary, his eyes blazing white before he double kicked Dagur.

"Now that's more like-" started Dagur before Gary got a good hit at his diaphragm. Dagur staggered back before being slapped across the face with a quarterstaff and getting his legs shot out from under him before he rolled back to avoid another blow and getting back up. "Ok, now we're fighting," said Dagur before charging at Gary.

The two traded blows, Gary for some reason repeating "NOT A SISSY!" over and over with each blow until Dagur smashed his staff in half

"Ha, not so tough without..." started Dagur before Gary struck with his broken staff halves and cracked Dagur's staff in two different places. "Evening it up, eh sissy? I can see why he brough-OOF!" he said as Gary screamed like a wild animal and delivered a blow to both sides of Dagur's head with the pieces of quarterstaff.

When Dagur brought up his staff to defend himself, Gary's blow quickly shattered it in three and for good measure, he stomped on the pieces hard enough to crack them. Gary said in a deeper voice, "Gonna rip you apart."

Then the fight completely devolved into a brawl. And by 'brawl', it was more like Gary slamming Dagur into the floor again and again. Matt watched in horror as Draconus said inside his head _"Oh, the sissy's doing well. HAH! Being a head voice means I can say that and he can't hear."_

"As much as I like to see Dagur get his, I think he's gotten more than enough," said Matt, "I think he's unconscious by now anyways."

An angry yell from Dagur silenced that as the Viking finally got his second wind and flipped Gary.

_"Eh, they'll probably beat each other senseless eventually,"_ said Draconus. Matt sighed at that, counting the seconds. It would only be a matter of time until all that rage brought out Gary's...other side.

Suddenly, Gary grabbed both of Dagur's legs and started spinning him around and around, building up more speed. Then he let go and sent Dagur with enough force to hit the arena doors and make them open. Gary roared before charging out of the arena.

Matt pointed. "Xander, get him!" he said quickly.

Xander nodded and immediately ran forward to try and grab Gary. "Young one, you need to regain control of yourself," said Xander as he reached forward to grab Gary. However, Gary weaved around his arm before grabbing Xander by the waist. Then he managed to lift Xander above his head. Matt and the group watched with minor horrified interest as Xander was thrown aside before Gary glared to try and spot Dagur.

Matt quickly looked around for anything to use. The dragon-slaying equipment was restored to keep up the appearance of the Hooligans still being dragonslayers, but Matt needed something a little less lethal. His eyes fell on some nets in the corner before running over as several Vikings tried to succeed where Xander had failed. Unfortunately, Gary's strength allowed him to easily toss them aside like volleyballs. Matt looked around to make sure nobody was there before grabbing a net and running out after Gary, waving to the others to follow.

He was just in time too as Gary had just spotted Dagur, who wasn't fully conscious after being slammed into the doors, but enough of his survival instinct existed to make him try to keep away from Gary.

"Gary, I order you to calm down!" called Matt, running after Gary while hauling the heavy net along. Gary just turned and roared at Matt, his eyes burning yellow and his teeth looking sharper than before. Matt stared before throwing the net in desperation.

The net went over Gary who snarled and tried to find his way out of it. "DOGPILE!" called Chris before jumping onto Gary. The term was unfamiliar to the Vikings, but it didn't take too much guessing as to what Chris meant. Several of them also jumped onto Gary to get him down to the ground.

Matt however stepped back before the 'dogpile' went flying as Gary threw them off, pulling the net off and charging after Gary again, though he was starting to lope as his 'other side' kicked in

"Gary, get back right now!" snapped Matt. Gary only paused to punch Matt, sending him flying backwards. Then he started loping over to the woods. "GARY!" snapped Matt, getting up before staggering and falling over again, out cold.

...

When Matt came around, he was pretty sure he had a big bruise on his chest by the way it was throbbing. "Easy there, lad," said Gobber's voice, "You took a big blow there."

"Where's...Gary gone?" rasped Matt, getting up unsteadily.

"Into the forest," said Stoick, "He seems to have lost his mind. What could have possibly gotten into him to make act like such a..."

"Berserker?" offered Chloe.

Matt managed, "He said...Dagur gave him a drink...of something."

"I've heard rumors that Berserkers drink an elixir that only they know the recipe of," said Stoick, "When they drink them, they go into a mad bloodrage frenzy."

"It's why they're called Berserkers," said Gobber, "Also because of their bearskin shirts. Berserkers may be brutes, but they know how to skin a bear perfectly."

"So basically Dagur drugged one of my men," said Matt, his annoyed tone coming back.

"It would seem that way," said Stoick.

"I hope Gary hasn't killed him...I want to," said Matt angrily, getting up...before falling over again.

"Dagur went into the forest to look for him," said Stoick, "I've sent my own men in as well, to find Gary before he does." He glanced out the window and said, "I hope they find him soon. It's almost sunset."

"Me too...poor guy," said Matt to himself, not particularly thinking of Gary at the moment.

"I think we better start looking ourselves," said Chloe, "Lots of scary stuff comes out at night. Wouldn't want to be lost in the woods then."

"Yeah...Gary might fin-OW!" said Matt, falling off the bed he was on as Chloe 'accidentally' kicked it.

"You'd best hurry then," said Stoick, "I'd send Hiccup, his friends, and their dragons, but I can't risk them stumbling across Dagur."

Matt got up unsteadily and was the last out. "I hope we find him before Gary...poor guy won't stand a chance," he said. As soon as they were out of hearing range, Matt whispered to Chloe, "Get the guys and start looking. Gary's probably going to be even more berserk as a gargoyle."

"Oh goody," said Chloe grimly.

...

However, Hiccup and his friends had already taken the initiative of looking for Gary. But they had the sense to be looking for him without their dragons. "Ok, he can't have gone far," said Hiccup, looking around at the darkened woods.

"Uh, Hiccup, this won't take too long, right?" asked Fishlegs, "It's kinda getting dark."

"We'll be fine. We just find Gary and get him back before Dagur finds-" began Hiccup before Dagur's voice said "Find what?"

The group turned around to see Dagur. "Oh, hey Dagur," said Hiccup, "We thought you were in the other part of the forest."

"I'm exactly where I want to be." said Dagur, a little too quickly before a rustling was heard. The group quickly turned towards the source of the rustling. There was a bit of anticipation before a rabbit hopped out.

"Oh, it's just a cute little bunny," said Ruffnut. The rabbit looked at her, wiggled its nose, and then let out a screech showing sharp fangs as its eyes glowed red before it leaped upon her face.

"Ok, didn't expect that," said Hiccup.

A louder roar was heard as the moon came out, causing even the bunny to pause before it shrugged and carried on trying to gnaw Ruffnut's face clean off.

"I knew there was a dragon on this island," said Dagur, "You've been trying to keep it for yourselves."

"I've never heard a dragon roar like that," said Hiccup.

"It sounds like its saying your name, Dagur," said Astrid, a little nervously as another roar was heard, closer and louder now.

"Then it knows who its slayer is," said Dagur with a manic smile, "You kids stand back and watch how a real warrior slays a dragon."

The sound of something merrily tearing its way through the woods towards them however seemed to put a minor damper on that, judging from the way Dagur's manic smile seemed to glaze before, as the moon was hidden behind a cloud, a dazed Gary staggered out the bushes, looking like he'd gone four rounds with the roar's owner.

Hiccup gave a sigh of relief and said, "Gary, we've been looking all over for you." "Don't...come near me..." gasped Gary.

"What? You got an upset stomach?" asked Snotlout mockingly.

There was an unpleasant gurgle before Gary said, "As a matter of fact..."

Snotlout leaned in and said "Actually you do look like that time I tried some of-" he said before Gary upchucked.

Everyone winced in disgust before Hiccup said, "I think you really need to see a healer now."

"Oh, he'll need a healer when I'm done with him," said Dagur as he walked forward.

"Dagur, he really does look ill," said Astrid as the moon came back out and Gary went bug-eyed and started twitching.

"Well, I've got the cure-all right here," said Dagur, holding up a familiar waterskin.

Gary quickly stepped back into the shadows and said, "No, keep that thing away from me."

"What wrong? It'll make this a little more interesting," said Dagur reaching to grab Gary and pull him out of the shadows. He didn't care that Hiccup and his friends were watching...why should he?

"DON'T!" shouted Gary, but fortunately the sky was rather patchy tonight and the moon was obscured again.

"Don't what?" said Dagur, dragging Gary out of the shadows again

"Dagur, leave him alone," said Astrid.

"We've got unfinished business, don't we, Gary?" said Dagur, "Our match hasn't officially ended and I think you need to man up again."

"Get AWAY!" snapped Gary, pushing Dagur back.

"You're strong enough with a sip, but let's see how tough you get with a full gulp," said Dagur before tackling Gary down and forcing the waterskin to his mouth.

"No...n-glub!" managed Gary as he was forced to choke it down before Astrid and Snotlout finally acted, dragging Dagur off as Gary choked it down.

"What is wrong with you?!" snapped Astrid, "Can't you see what that stuff is doing to him?"

"I don't care. This is my fight," snapped Dagur pushing Astrid and Snotlout aside as Gary started yelling with pain as the moon came out again "Ok, Gary, let's see what you're made of," said Dagur, dragging Gary to his feet, "Put them up." Gary weakly held up his hands, which were shaking very noticeably. "Ha, you're shivering with fear," said Dagur, "Well you're not going to get any mercy from Dagur the Deranged."

With that, Dagur aimed a jaw-shattering punch at Gary...and stopped as Gary grabbed the fist and began squeezing, an unpleasant crunching heard as Dagur was forced to one knee...before being thrown into the air. The others watched as he sailed through the air before landing in a tree. By the dazed look on his face, he was out cold.

A grunting snarl from Gary snapped them out of their shock and they turned to see Gary doubled over in a patch of moonlight. "Gary, we're going to get you to Gothi. She'll know how to take care of you," said Astrid.

"Get away from me..." snarled Gary in a voice that didn't sound human.

"Look, we can help you," tried Hiccup before Matt and Chris ran into view.

"Get away from him!" Chris snapped.

"But Gary needs help," said Fishlegs. Then Gary started moaning louder, his voice becoming deeper and more inhuman.

"Really, listen to Chris," said Matt, a little desperately.

"Uh, guys, something's really wrong with Gary," said Snotlout stepping back. Gary's skin was starting to turn stone grey and his hands were growing claws that were gouging the ground.

The killer rabbit took one look at Gary, screamed, and hightailed it into the woods. Ruffnut sat up, with only a few chewmarks on her face and asked, "What did I miss?"

"GO NOW!" yelled Matt, reaching under his cloak for something.

The kids needed little prompting, turning around and running quickly. The twins briefly paused to grab Dagur but they ran when they heard a monstrous roar behind them.

The sound of rapid fire cracks were heard, coupled with more roars as the group ran for it, finally taking a breather after a full 20 minutes run, mostly as Dagur was waking up. "What happened?" asked Dagur.

"Gary just turned into a monster!" yelled Snotlout.

"He means a monstrous Berserker," said Hiccup, "We're lucky to have dragged you away alive."

"He beat me? You're lying," said Dagur in shock and anger.

"You saw what he did with one sip," said Astrid, "That much elixir you gave him made him unstoppable."

Dagur looked down to see his waterskin was gone. "I gave him all of it?" he said in shock.

"I hope not," said Fishlegs, "I mean, that would probably kill someone, right?"

"Yes...I think," said Dagur, a little distantly.

"I guess you must have dropped it back there," said Hiccup.

"Oh well, I guess we'll never see it again," said Fishlegs.

Another roar was heard before Matt flew out the undergrowth, followed by the monster Gary had turned into, holding Chris by the throat. "Running time," said Matt dizzily.

The group quickly ran as fast as they could. "Is that a dragon?" asked Dagur, looking back.

"No, it's an angry gargoyle...from France," snapped Matt who was quickly leading the pack. "Where does this go anyway...oh crap," he added, before the group ended up near the cliffs.

"I told you we should have brought our dragons," muttered Snotlout to Hiccup.

"I'll deal with that monster," snapped Dagur, causing Matt to stare.

"I'm sorry, I thought I was insane. He's made of STONE!" he said as the crashing sounds of Gary's approach could be heard.

"What? He's a troll?" asked Dagur.

"No, gargoyle, is that helmet making you deaf?" snapped Matt.

Gary burst into view with a roar, Chris nowhere to be seen before he charged at the group, going for Dagur in particular. Matt muttered, "I can't believe I'm doing this for him," before shoving Dagur out of the way. However, that left him right in Gary's path and he ended up getting a backhand that sent flying off the cliff. The others watched in horror as Matt flew clean over the edge, though there was a strange flash of light as they ran up and no sign of him in the dark.

But then Gary roared before leaping off the cliff. He spread his wings and glided away into the darkness. Dagur snapped at that. "COME BACK HERE AND FACE ME YOU SISSY!" he yelled into the darkness, a roar that sounded like it was a question heard.

Fishlegs covered Dagur's mouth and asked, "Are you crazy?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?" asked Astrid sarcastically.

The roar sounded again, closer before, with a crash, Gary landed behind them. Dagur pushed Fishlegs aside and said, "Aha, face your match, beast. My sword shall make quick work of you." He lunged forward with his sword, but the blade broke when it struck against Gary's stone hide. Dagur stopped at that, both he and his opponent looking at the broken blade before Gary reached down to grab him. Dagur, however, jumped back and said, "I think it's time for a strategic withdraw."

The gargoyle snarled at that, moving with surprising speed for a walking boulder. The kids turn and ran along the cliff. "Look for a passage too narrow for him to through," called Hiccup.

"Why would I listen to you?" snapped Dagur.

"You could try fighting that thing barehanded," said Tuffnut.

"That would be awesome for 10 seconds," said Ruffnut.

Dagur looked over his shoulder to see the gargoyle smash a tree apart to keep its pursuit. "No," he said to himself in a rare show of intelligence.

Then Astrid pointed forwards and said, "There, that cleft!" There was a cleft in the rockside that looked pretty narrow, but it seemed to extend back far enough for all of them.

"Erm...are you sure?" began Fishlegs before Gary nearly caught him and he gained a surprising turn of speed. Fishlegs was the first to reach the cleft, but he got wedged in the entrance. That problem was soon fixed by the others running into him with enough force to make him pop through.

A second later, Gary reached in, trying to pull them back out. "We need to get in deeper," said Hiccup.

However, Snotlout seemed to have tapped out, seeing how he was muttering to himself, "Find a happy place, find a happy place."

A voice said "Oi, find your own happy place. We were here first."

The group turned around as much as they could to see Techo and Megan in the back of the cleft. "What are you guys doing here?" asked Tuffnut.

"Hiding from Ga-...the big monster," said Techo.

There was a roaring sound followed by the sound of rock crunching as Gary started trying to dig them out. "Oh...Ga-" began Megan miserably before Techo kicked her.

"Ix-nay," he hissed

"Uh, if he really is made out of stone, that probably means it won't take him too long for him to reach us," said Fishlegs.

"About 2 minutes, give or take," said Techo gloomily before asking, "Ok...which idiot called him the S word?"

"That'd be this guy," said Tuffnut, elbowing Dagur in the gut.

"Hey, maybe we can throw him out so the gargoyle will leave us alone," said Ruffnut.

"Oh...you're Mr. Stupid. You're lucky the boss didn't rip your spleen out and make a balloon animal out of it," said Techo frankly.

"He's lucky I won't banish him to a demon toad's pit," snarled Megan in a slightly demonic voice. Everyone bar Techo jumped back at that.

"Uh, she's just joking," said Techo.

"So she's not a witch?" asked Dagur.

"You're lucky I'm not," said Megan with a glare.

"She could hurt you in ways that don't bruise cause it leaves nothing to bruise," said Techo cheerfully

"Guys, as much as I'd like to threaten Dagur, can we please something about that?" asked Astrid, pointing at the raging gargoyle outside. Tuffnut and Ruffnut shrugged before pushing Dagur forward to the front of the cleft. The gargoyle paused, before holding its arm into the tunnel expectantly with a toothy grin.

"Guys, guys, we don't have to resort to sacrifice," said Hiccup, "There has to be another way out of this."

"We need to calm hi...calm it down," said Megan.

"How? By singing it a lullaby?" asked Snotlout.

"Oh, maybe I sing him one of Mea... my mom's lullabies," said Fishlegs.

"Can you speak Fre...Gaulish?" said Techo as the gargoyle, now realizing he wasn't going to get Dagur began scrabbling again.

"Uh, no, but I'm pretty sure the sound of it will be soothing enough," said Fishlegs before starting, "There was a pretty little toad all by herself at the side of a road..." The effect had an immediate effect on the gargoyle. Namely that it was backing up and making discouraged sounds.

The gargoyle looked around before grabbing a boulder, aiming a throw at the hole...and jumping back as the boulder exploded in a flash of blue light. "Was that a Night Fury?" asked Dagur. However, a dark blue dragon of a different build landed in front of the gargoyle, snarling loudly.

"I don't think so," said Techo, muttering, "About time, boss."

The dragon roared at the gargoyle who roared back, ignoring the rising hum coming from its opponent's open mouth until a blast of blue energy shot out and nearly knocked him down, instead turning a tree into a pyre. The gargoyle soon got back up and roared again, pounding his chest in a show of aggression.

The dragon just snarled before tackling the gargoyle out of sight and hearing of the others before saying in a quiet hiss, "Gary...get a grip." Gary snarled before getting a chomp on Matt's shoulder. Matt roared before grabbing Gary and throwing him off, sending another plasma blast after him, the two back in view.

...

"We must be in that guy's bed. Let's go before it decides to eat in!" yelled Techo, wincing as the dragon and gargoyle rolled by, trying to bite and claw one another. "Megan's gonna kill yoooou," he muttered.

"But a gargoyle and a new breed of dragon?" said Dagur, "Why can't we wait for one of them to kill the other before finishing it-" There was a loud clang as Megan hit the back of Dagur's helmet with a big rock. There was definitely enough strength behind it to knock him out.

"Ok, now dumb-dumb's out cold, someone grab him and then we run," said Techo, 'accidentally' kicking Dagur across the face as he stirred.

The twins grabbed Dagur and the group squeezed out of the cleft before running away, the two behemoths being too locked in battle to notice. Techo spotted a gap between some rocks. "Over here. Take the idiot first, go, go, go," he called, all business, ducking as a stray plasma blast, this time red shot overhead. The group quickly navigated through the rocks, coming back into the forest on the other side.

Hiccup and Astrid were almost through when Techo yelled "GET BACK!" the dragons beam attack hitting the rocks overhead which glowed for a second before exploding. The group was almost all the way through when they heard one particularly loud roar, sounding like whichever one was giving it was in a lot of pain. Then it seemed to quiet down.

Hiccup and Astrid got up to see that Techo and Megan had been blocked off by rubble from the blast. "Come on, we've got to get back there," said Astrid, already climbing up to see a strange sight. She was able to make out a group of people, but the moonlight was in the wrong angle, making her mostly see them in shadow. However, she was able to see that the gargoyle was lying on the ground near them and not moving. She could however see the dragon, standing out thanks to its size and apparently...talking to the men clustered near the gargoyle? It's all it could be doing judging from the gestures it was making.

Hiccup had climbed up and was looking at the strange sight as well. "What is going on over there?" he asked.

"I don't know. Does that dragon look like the boss to you?" said Astrid, pointing to where the dragon was now waving to another group emerging from the trees.

"Yeah, but dragons can't talk, can they?" said Hiccup.

"Looks like it's...wow," said Astrid, as the dragon seemed to glow, a flash of light seen. "And it vanishes too?" she said skeptically

"I don't think so," said Hiccup.

"We'd better get back, give Matt's clan the bad news," said Hiccup, the two deciding this mystery could wait.

...

They caught up with the others to see Dagur walking along sulkily. "I can't believe I missed out on slaying a dragon again," muttered Dagur.

"That dragon saved us from that gargoyle!" snapped Astrid, finally losing her cool, "That gargoyle killed someone."

"Killed who?" said a voice behind them. The group turned to see a bruised and cut Matt with Techo, Megan and Chris, who was carrying an unconscious Gary.

"You...you were thrown over a cliff," said Snotlout in disbelief.

"I can swim," said Matt, casually before his eyes fell on Dagur. "Ah, just the person I wanted to kill," he said angrily.

Dagur backed up and said, "Wait a sec, if anything happens to me, that'll mean war."

Matt looked around before saying "That's only if anyone realizes you made it here," he said pleasantly. The twins merely stepped aside to make room for Matt to get at Dagur. Matt grinned and walked forward at that before saying, "You poisoned one of my men. If there's a war...you started it."

"Hey, it's a whole Berserker armada up against your small crew. It's obviously bad math," said Dagur, backing up.

"You'll still be dead," said Matt simply.

Dagur turned to the other guys and said, "You're not just gonna stand there, are you?"

"Yup," said Tuffnut.

"Yep," said Ruffnut.

"I don't see a reason to get involved," said Astrid.

"I'm not stopping that guy," said Snotlout.

"I might not wanna watch," said Fishlegs.

Matt grinned. "Let's make this clear for the hard of thinking: poisoning my men...equals you dying...ok?" he said with a mirthless grin.

"Hey, he's not dead, right?" said Dagur.

"That's the only reason you aren't," said Matt.

"Then you don't have any right to kill me," said Dagur.

"I can do this though," said Matt, before punching Dagur on the jaw. The blow sent Dagur spinning back before he fell to the ground. Matt walked up and pulled Dagur back up. "Want a fight with someone who knows how to fight properly?" he snapped, readying another punch.

"Matt...wait..." said a weak voice. Matt turn to see Gary was awake. "I think...he's had enough...for one night..." said Gary weakly, "I think...we all could...use some rest..."

Matt looked at Dagur and leaned in, before doing something that would come back to bite the gang: he let his teeth and eyes morph for the usual creep factor and said "Go away!" Dagur screamed and immediately turned around and ran away. Matt let his features change back, waving, "Bye, don't forget to write. Let's get Gary back to town and we can fetch the dragons too. I have a good feeling that Dagur will want to leave."

...

Sure enough, Dagur was ready to weigh anchor when they got back. However, he was raving about demons and shapeshifting monsters. The Berserkers mostly thought that Dagur had been given a pretty bad fright was slightly more deranged than usual.

Matt grinned. "I live for this," he said to himself happily.

Of course, Stoick was more than happy to see them go, especially when Matt told him what he did to Gary, though leaving out most of the 'too interesting' details.

"I'm just disappointed. Back home we'd have destroyed him," said Matt, mostly to himself.

"Well, we've been trying to keep the peace here," said Stoick, "As much as I'd rather see someone more sensible leading the Berserkers, I haven't any authority to make that change."

"If he does do it again, there will be a new Berserker boss," said Matt with a cold tone.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'd rather not have a war," said Stoick, "Wars have a tendency of spiraling out of control."

"I know how you feel," said Matt to himself.

"Still, at least we won't be seeing Dagur around anytime soon," said Stoick, "I hope Gary feels better soon."

"He'll be fine. He's mostly just feeling guilty," said Matt.

...

Gary was sitting up when Megan peered in, a good sign though his grim face wasn't. "Hey, I can get you something if you're feeling hungry," said Megan.

"I'm ok. I don't feel like eating. I think I already ate." said Gary before burping up a stone.

Megan and Gary stared at the stone before Megan said, "Ok, I hope whatever else passes through okay."

Gary sighed. "I had a feeling I had done that. Was anyone hurt?" he asked, pausing as he remembered Dagur and adding "...who didn't deserve it?"

"Well, Matt and Chris were battered a bit, but I think they'll heal pretty quickly," said Megan.

Gary sighed. "At least it is over," he said to himself before saying, "What if I had found you first?"

"Gary, I'm a sorceress. I'm pretty sure I can protect myself from a rampaging beast," said Megan before wincing and saying, "Not that you're not normally out of control."

Gary sighed. "I know what I am like when I lose control. That was exactly the right word," he said kindly though there was a hint of hurt in his voice

"But you usually have great control. It was that cocktail Dagur made you drink that made you go, well, berserk," said Megan.

"It could easily be anything else," snapped Gary for a second.

"Gary, you're stronger than that. Gargoyles are protectors, you could only have lashed out if someone really pushed you to the edge. I know that even as a beast, you have a gentle soul inside and would only be aggressive if you have to."

Gary sighed at that. "I am just afraid. I do not want to wake up to find that I hurt you," he said gloomily.

"Gary, you could never hurt me. And I don't just mean I can protect myself from any harm," said Megan.

Chris walked in at that, looking around shiftily before pulling his glove back to show his wrist comp. "Ok, had my comp beam a scan of that gunk. Here's the results," he said, "Apparently that stuff is made from fermented bog myrtle, minced fly amanita, shredded loco weed, chuck full of stuff to boost someone's adrenaline level to Berserker quantities,"

"Wait, did you say 'loco weed'?" asked Megan.

"Yeah, why?" asked Chris.

"That stuff's supposed to be the opposite of wolfs bane. Instead of repelling or suppressing werewolves, it energizes and excites them. It's almost like catnip for werewolves," said Megan.

"But I'm a weregoyle," said Gary.

"You have a little bit of werewolf blood in you, literally," pointed out Megan.

The two stopped at that and turned to look at Chris. "What? I only took a little sniff. You think I'd be stupid enough to taste it?" asked Chris.

"I did wonder why you were sweating," said Megan.

"Don't be silly, I'm fine," said Chris, twitching a little, "Is it hot in here or is it just me?"

* * *

There's another chapter. This one featuring one of the few established villains in the show, Dagur the Deranged. I definitely kept with his ax-crazy (pun intended) personality, though I expanded a bit on the berserker bit from historical references. Also, we have a glimpse of what lies beneath Gary's gentlemanly nature. He usually has better control over himself, but stuff like the elixir can bring out the worst in him. And after two chapters that focus on Gary, we'll turning away to other things. We will be seeing Dagur again in this story, but we have other enemies to deal with. Keep an eye out for next week's chapter and please review.


	5. Adventures in Townsitting

**Voyagers Saga**

**Broken Nest**

**Chapter 5: Adventures in Townsitting**

On a remote island in the Northern Sea, a new occupation of humans was setting up their camp. The isolation would have deterred some from settling there, but for these newcomers, it worked to their advantage.

...

"Com is online ma'am," said a trooper, adding, "Councilman McNeil is awaiting an update."

"Of course," said the captain before stepping into view of the monitor, "Alicia reporting."

"Tell me that Lynch is dead and his little mutant friends are locked up," said McNeil's voice, the comm grainy in quality.

"I'm afraid not yet, sir," said Alicia, "I had left Lynch to be dealt with by two of my men, but it appears he has taken advantage of the local wildlife."

"On that note, how is my little brother?" said McNeil.

"Er, we have not made contact with him," said Alicia, not wanting to add that what little evidence there was suggest that Daniel may have been still aboard Lynch's ship when it was destroyed.

"Fine, look, I don't care what you need to do; get Lynch. Am I clear?" said McNeil.

"Transparent, sir," said Alicia.

The comm went dead just as Alicia's second walked up. "Got it confirmed, definite sighting of Lynch. Local leader's ranting about a guy with dragon teeth," he said.

"Location?" asked Alicia.

"Village near that nanofog cloud bank," said the trooper, activating a map.

"Any timeline specifics living there?" asked Alicia.

"Multiples, all juvenile,'" said the trooper.

Alicia swore before saying, "Looks like we'll have to do this the long way then."

"McNeil did say by any means, ma'am," said the trooper.

Alicia thought for a minute before saying, "If they're juveniles, they're bound to be protected. Lynch may do most of the protecting himself. But we need to plan this out to make sure there won't be too many to deal with at once."

"Hey, we could cause a distraction. Our agent says the guy who gave us this info is a bit of a warmonger. Let's give him someone to fight," said the trooper.

"Nobody'll know it was us...we got quite a collection of period gear," said the trooper with a smirk.

"Excellent, then let us proceed," said Alicia.

...

48 hours later...

Matt hopped off the boat, peering around. "Ok, little miss clingy, I know you're waiting to glomp me, not this time," he muttered to himself before Chloe walked past, pushing him off the dock.

Matt surfaced and shouted, "Betrayed by my own flesh and blood! Why would you do this to me- oh, wait, sea dragon." With a violent splash, Matt was pulled back underwater.

Chloe sighed before walking on and seeing the chief seemingly gearing up for something. "Hey...what's with the heavy weaponry?" she called, walking over.

"There's trouble brewing that could mean war," said Stoick.

"Wait...what? Who'd want to make war on...wait, it's that idiot who poisoned Gary, isn't it?" said Chloe with a sigh.

"Well, despite our convincing arguments, he's still convinced that Berk is somehow responsible for attacking the Berserker outposts," said Stoick, "And apparently he's been finding more evidence it was us."

"Let me guess, his own fevered imaginings?" said Chloe sarcastically before saying, "So, where are you all going? You said it yourself, you have no interest in fighting him."

"We're going to put an end to this once and for all and find those pillagers ourselves," said Stoick.

"Hmm... Is that why you asked me and the others to come along with Matt for his training?" said Chloe.

"Well, we're going to be out of town for a few days and someone needs to keep an eye on the young ones so that they won't get into any trouble," said Stoick.

Chloe opened her mouth to give the standard mercenary objection of 'Are we getting paid for this?' when Stoick said "Officially, I'm leavin' my son, Hiccup in charge...but unofficially, I'd be grateful if you and your friends kept an eye on him. Something tells me you and your brother are trustworthy in that regard."

Chloe reshaped her mouth into a smile and said, "You wouldn't believe how often we've had to deal with this kind of thing. Between you and me, I spend most of my time keeping an eye on Matt."

Just then, Steampipe popped out of the water, his jaws trying to close over a soggy-looking Matt. "HELP!" yelled Matt.

Chloe glared and turned back to Stoick. "Behold, Exhibit A."

"Don't you ever worry that Scauldron will actually eat him one day?" asked Stoick.

"Matt's not edible. Many have tried, all have got terminal stomach ache," said Chloe.

"CHLOE!" yelled Matt again before Steampipe decided he had enough for now and blasted him off with a water blast.

"Besides, Steampipe's only playing," said Chloe.

"What were you guys talking about?" said Matt coldly while trying to get some dignity back.

"We're unofficially looking after the guy who's gonna officially be in charge while Stoick and the others are away," said Chloe.

"Oh...simple. Are we getting-OW!" said Matt, hopping back and falling back into the water after Chloe covertly cut off the standard merc question

"That Scauldron has an odd fascination with your brother," said Stoick as Steampipe decided to simply toss Matt up and down on his tail.

"Probably because of the amusing sounds he makes," said Chloe.

...

Matt, finally free of Steampipe, had gathered the crew together out of the way. "Ok, this is a simple escort and defense job...and no, we're not getting paid," said Matt, adding the last part as several hands went up.

There were several groans before Chris asked, "So where are we going?"

"Right here, we're looking after the Chief's kid...covertly. We don't let him know that he has a few underpaid guardian angels," said Matt.

"Yeah, his pride will be a little crushed if he thinks his father doesn't think he can look after the village himself," said Chloe.

"But he can't. From what I understand, chiefs could be challenged...that'll include proxies," said Techo.

"Well, he's got his friends with him, but he'll be expecting to shoulder most of the responsibility. It's one of those father/son relation things. He'll work himself ragged if he tries to do everything," added Matt with, to some, a surprisingly knowing voice.

"Well, it's just looking after the village for a few days," said NegaMorph.

"Yeah, what could possibly go-" started Morph.

"SILENCE THAT BLOB!" yelled Matt.

...

Everyone near the shack jumped as the doorway exploded, a few peering in to see Matt giving his dragon a rather weak sounding scolding and one of their number embedded on the opposite house. "You've been a bad, bad, bad, very clever and perceptive, bad dragon," said Matt to Starflame. Starflame, to her credit was making the dragon equivalent of 'blah blah blah' motions.

The injured crewmember, the surprisingly enduring midget, had a dazed smile on his face as he said, "Look, birdies."

"Ok, good meeting, guys. We know the plan. Anyone messes up and I eat them," called Matt.

The short dark one said, "Ha, I'd like to see you actually try."

"Not now...too many witnesses," called Matt.

...

Hiccup and his friends watched as the Hooligan fleet vanished over the horizon before turning back to see Chris and Techo watching from the far end of the dock, leaning against the wall. "So, you're the big man in town since your dad's out," said Chris.

"Erm...I guess so," said Hiccup, he and his friends a bit surprised at the question's bluntness.

"I think you'll be surprised how much job runs itself. You just sit in the big chair, look impressive, and just wait for your dad to get back," said Techo, "Nothing to it."

The others glanced at each other before Astrid said, "Hiccup's dad told you to look after us, didn't he?"

"What? That's crazy, you're crazy. Why would he do that? It's not like we're mercenaries," said Chris, the two laughing nervously.

"Well you certainly don't look like babysitters," said Astrid, "Which we definitely don't need anymore. Right guys?"

The twins had lost interest and decided to see how much punishment their helmets could take. "Ok, now use both hands," said Tuffnut, handing Ruffnut back the club.

Chris and Techo peered at this politely before Techo said "Probably not the best time to have made that comment, mate."

"Ruffnut and Tuffnut are always doing that," said Astrid, not even having to turn around, "But we are responsible enough to take care of the village on our own."

"Fine, just as well we weren't hired to be bodyguards or anything then, right, Chris?" said Techo casually, the two walking back up the steps, Matt, Chloe and Starflame visible peering down from the clifftop.

"You think they bought it?" asked Matt.

"Of course, those two are the best actors we have," said Chloe in a sarcastic tone.

"Fine, let's get our facts straight as I predict an angry mob from them in T minus 10...9..." counted Matt before looking up. "Hey, couple of ships coming in. Get Conson and Davia to meet them," he said, his and Chloe's eyes turning reptilian briefly as they 'zoomed in'. The crew onboard the ship looked like your typical 3rd century sailors, but something about them made Matt feel suspicious.

"All units, we got what look like a couple of bulk traders coming in. Keep an eye on them and a hand on your blasters," muttered Matt into his comm before he heard the sound of Hiccup and company approaching...and they sounded annoyed. "Keep your weapons hidden," muttered Matt into the comm before turning around to look at Hiccup. "Hey Hiccup, here you're filling in for Stoick while he's away," he said in a friendly tone.

Astrid snapped, "And I hear that you're our babysitters. Oh, and those two you sent down, terrible actors."

"I told you we should have done it ourselves," said Chloe.

Matt gave her a sharp look before saying, "We're not really babysitters. We're more like...consultants. You know, to lend a hand or give some advice." Hiccup looked a bit crestfallen at that, prompting Matt to say "I doubt you'll need too. Leadership's usually in the blood...or the spleen...one or the other."

"Your father has confidence in you," said Chloe, "It just that some things can pop up that can go completely out of your control."

"Always expect the unexpected," said Matt sagely before he peered over to see the ships closer now., "Talking of which, here's leadership test 1: Unexpected visitors."

Hiccup looked at the incoming ships and said, "I don't recognize their flags or sails."

"Looks like Ger...Teutons," said Chloe, squinting at them.

"They're out far," said Matt.

"Should we hide the dragons?" asked Fishlegs.

"Should be ok. The Teutonic army doesn't have a functional navy. They'd gain nothing by being dragon haters," said Matt.

"Well, we better go greet them," said Hiccup, "That's what the chief does."

"Sure thing, boss," said Matt promptly.

...

Alicia hopped off the boat. "Ok, nobody acts until I say, keep your guns in your wrist computers till then," she muttered as she spotted a group headed down to the docks.

"There's Lynch and his sister," muttered one of the troopers, "Should we get them now?"

"No...check your scanners. Those are timeline specifics...and is that a dragon?" said Alicia.

"Lynch does keep company with dragons a lot," remarked another trooper.

"This changes things. Everyone play the part," said Alicia before she bowed as the group came into range, "Greetings, young man. We've come to trade some of our stock. Is your Chief present?"

"My father is away on business and I represent him in his absence," said the lanky teen with the pegleg.

"Respect his authorit-aaaargh!" said Matt, Chloe kicking him in the shin.

Alicia smirked beneath her helmet. This was going to be more fun than she thought. The teen stared at her though as Alicia decided to prod the other issue. "It's unusual to see humans and dragons together," she said, turning to look at the black dragoness snarling at her.

"Well, it wasn't easy. But we've established some common ground and they can be really docile if you treat them right," said Hiccup, patting the dragoness.

"She doesn't like me. Is she yours?" said Alicia before turning in shock as Matt said "She's my partner."

"I...wouldn't have expected that a person like you might be able to tame a wild beast like her," said Alicia.

"Have we met?" said Matt curiously at that.

"No, but you don't seem the rider type," said Alicia.

"Bet ya never even rode a pony before," said one of her men.

"Not really..." said Matt, Hiccup speaking at that. "You're welcome to stay the night. These seas aren't safe to travel at night."

"Many thanks. We are weary from our long journey," said Alicia.

...

Matt watched as the traders came ashore before he finally said, "I don't trust them. Something's off."

"I know what you mean, but we need to be tactful in telling Hiccup," said Chloe, "He won't like it if we act like we're in charge."

"It's not like we're bound by NSC rules anymore. We can tell him without worrying about the cops," said Matt.

"I mostly mean his self-esteem," said Chloe, "How would you have liked it the first time you were in charge someone kept going over your head or double-guessing everything you did?"

"And if these guys turn out to be trouble, he could end up dead," snapped Matt, before seeing Chloe's face, "Oh no." Matt turned around to see Hiccup and said, "Hey, Hiccup, how's it going?" Of course, Hiccup's expression was less than glad.

"Hiccup..." began Chloe.

"No, I don't want to hear it," said Hiccup, "I'm the one in charge of the village while Dad's away, not you two. I don't care what you or my dad thinks, I can watch over the village and I don't need you to be watching over me."

Chloe sighed. "Listen, we have experience...and while my brother likes to put both his feet in his mouth like the idiot he is, he's a good judge of character. If he thinks something's off about these people, he's probably right," she said calmly.

"You think I haven't noticed?" said Hiccup, "Even I think a small group of Teutonic traders all the way out here is suspicious, I don't need you to point out everything. I'm not a little kid."

Chloe sighed, "Fine, we'll be keeping an eye on them too. I'm sure I know one of them...I hope I don't."

…

Alicia looked around "This is just weird. Who lives with dragons?" she muttered, walking with her lieutenant.

"Someone who apparently doesn't mind the stench," said the lieutenant waving the air away from his face, "Don't they have laws yet about where your pets leave their crap?"

"Apparently not," said Alicia, taking a camera shot using her wrist comp of the 'chief's' black dragon, who was making weird faces now.

"So when are we gonna frag Lynch?" asked the lieutenant, "I'd rather not stand around here all day."

"Let's just be careful. He might just be an ancestor of the local variant. How long till we get positive ID?" said Alicia, deactivating her wristcam.

"Shouldn't be too much longer," said the lieutenant, "His nanotech ought to pop up on our scanners any time now."

"Fine, tell the men to set some charges at the armory and a sleeper-deeper in their hall. I don't want any shocks or interruptions," said Alicia.

"Shouldn't be a problem," said the lieutenant, "These yokels won't know what hit them."

...

Matt sighed as the traders lifted several crates onto their ship. "Maybe they are on the up and up?" he said to himself.

"I don't know," said Astrid, "Something about them doesn't seem...genuine."

"It's probably nothing." said Matt, looking down at his own wristcomp covertly to where the trader leader's picture had a progress bar next to it.

"Well, they haven't been really talking about what they're trading," said Astrid, "They're just bringing their crates off of their ship."

"What say we take a peek? A good subject takes the initiative," said Matt curiously, strolling down the dock to where several crates were stacked up.

Apparently the twins and Snotlout had already taken the initiative and were trying to get one of the crates open. "You guys think they're up to something too?" asked Astrid.

"Up to something? Maybe, we just want to see what they've brought," said Snotlout.

Matt pushed Snotlout aside and looked at the crate, pulling at a loose plank. "Almost...there...wow," he said wincing before falling back as a stream of gravel fell out. "What the smeg?" he said to himself, reaching in to see if there was anything in the gravel crate.

Ruffnut picked up a hand full of pebbles and asked, "Why would anyone trade rocks?"

"Because they're good for throwing at someone?" suggested Tuffnut. Ruffnut shrugged before tossing her handful at Tuffnut, most of it bouncing off his helmet.

Matt however said "They wouldn't trade rocks. We need to get to hiccup. I think these are trouble...big trouble," he said, looking at his wrist comp to where the progress bar had gotten further, a message saying "Analyzing anomalous energy residue."

"I think it just means that those so-called traders are here on false principles and are probably going to try and rob us," said Astrid.

"Good, I need stress relief," said Matt darkly, running ahead of the others.

"Did his eyes just turn red?" said Ruffnut.

...

Alicia looked at Hiccup and said "It is kind of you to let us stay for the night. We'll be gone in the morning, circumstances permitting," she said, before her nanite HUD lit up.

"Alert...positive ID confirmed. Lethal force authorized by order of Councilman McNeil," it said.

'Excellent,' she thought, 'Now I just have to get rid of the kid.' "Say...where's your dad?" she asked out loud, looking around. "Pardon my question but you do seem young for a chief."

"My father is away on business," said Hiccup a little stiffly, "I am acting chief in his place."

"Ah...seems fine...and he took his troops with him?" said Alicia, running down a mental check list.

"He took some of his men, I can't tell you how many," said Hiccup.

"That should be fine," said Alicia, smirking before turning to walk out, nodding to two of her men as she passed them.

Hiccup was more than bright enough to tell that something was up. Alicia had said very little about their voyage, her crew, their cargo, or really anything solid about herself. He'd better go talk with the other riders. He walked out to see one of Alicia's crew kneeling down next to the armory hut, standing up and running away as Hiccup watched, a faint red glow flashing.

Thinking that it couldn't possibly be good, Hiccup ran over to see what the crewmember had left.

A small disc, made of metal was stuck to the side, a ring of red lights slowly lighting up around a central one with a steady 'beep'. Hiccup tried to pull the disc off, but it wouldn't budge. As the red lights kept flashing, an instinct in Hiccup told him to run for it quickly. Since he couldn't remove the disc, he decided he'd better get away from it.

...

Matt bumped into Hiccup as he ran towards the hall. "Hey, I was just looking for you. What's wrong?" he asked.

"I think those traders are up to no good," said Hiccup.

"Good, we're on the same page," said Matt.

"One of them just put some flashing metal disc on the side of the armory," said Hiccup.

"What?" said Matt horrified as his nanites flashed 'Alert...explosive detected in vicinity.' "Down!" he snapped before the armory hut exploded. Matt and Hiccup quickly dropped to the ground to avoid the flaming bits of metal and wood that flew over them. "Everyone ok?" said Matt, getting up again unsteadily.

"Yes, but it looks like Gobber will have to make new weapons again," said Hiccup, "Which means we'll be less able to protect ourselves. We have to get to the dragons, they're our only chance."

A voice said, "There he is, get him." causing Matt to sigh.

"And there's my nickname. It's me they're after, hop it!" he said, running for it as a 'brakka-brakka' noise was heard, dust shooting up around Matt as he ran. Hiccup wasn't sure how the 'traders' were shooting at him, but he was pretty sure he could guess how much it would hurt if it hit him.

Two of the traders ran up at that, holding metal sticks, the ends glowing red before one snapped "Which way did he go?"

Thinking quickly, Hiccup said, "He went that way," pointing in the opposite direction Matt had run.

"Good, you're gonna lead us. That way, if you're lying, we can take it out on you...MOVE IT!" snapped the other.

Hiccup gulped and thought, 'I sure hope Matt's going to get help.'

The trio walked into the road that Hiccup had pointed out, the sound of more weapon fire heard in the distance, a disembodied voice saying "The remaining local resistance is disabled. This is team 2. We got Lynch's sister in sight...hey...what was that?...oh smeg, shoot her SHOOT HER...'Bzzt'" The distant weapon fire now sounded randomized, coupled with yells...and a few screams.

"Shit...boss, what's going on with team 2?" said one of the troopers, forgetting for now about Hiccup it seemed, though the other blocked the way back.

Alicia's voice was heard saying, "Calm down, you cowards. We've had sims to show us how to deal with these kinds of mutants. Take them down."

"Yes, ma'am...what about the timeline specific?" said one of the troopers.

"If he gets to be too much of a bother, dispose of him. McNeil promised a full pardon," said Alicia's voice.

"Yes' ma'am. Could use a little backup though," said one of the troopers before a scrabbling noise on one of the buildings got their attention

"Oh no..." said one of them, aiming his weapon up at the roofs. Hiccup also looked up with a hopeful expression.

A figure peered out from the roof behind them before whistling "Yoo hoo." The duo turned in time for Matt to leap down, dealing a mix of blows and kicks to the first trooper staggering him back before knocking him down with a nasty blow to the neck.

The other trooper pointed his weapon at Hiccup and said, "St-stay back!"

"You're worrying about me when you should be worrying about him," said Matt, pointing behind the trooper, who turned to be nose to nose with Toothless.

"Oh smeg," said the trooper before Toothless roared, grabbed him with his mouth, and shook him like a rat.

Matt winced as the trooper was thrown through a wooden wall before he reached down to grab one of the trooper's pulse rifles, making sure to seem a little hesitant before readying it.

"Matt, what's been going on here?" asked Hiccup, "Who are these guys really?"

"No idea," lied Matt smoothly.

"Then why are they going after you specifically?" asked Hiccup.

"Fine, we...upset their bosses," said Matt smoothly, "Their bosses are a little bit...evil."

"Apparently," said Hiccup, "We need to get to the others. Without the dragons, we don't stand a chance."

"Ok...erm...can you move to the left? Let's see if I got this right," said Matt, gently pushing Hiccup aside and firing up at one of the roof rims, one of Alicia's men shimmering into view with a groan and falling forward into the dirt.

"What kind of weapon is that anyways?" asked Hiccup.

"No idea, something these Teutonic mercenaries have," lied Matt.

"Mercenaries? That makes sense," said Hiccup, "They don't seem to care as much about looting as pirates."

"Not all mercenaries are like that..." said Matt, sounding a little hurt.

"Ok, once we've regrouped, we should go to the Academy. There's bound to be some spare weapons there we could use," said Hiccup.

"No, you can't fight these guys. Believe me when I say these are well trained and won't even need to chew you to eat you alive," said Matt, peering round a corner.

"Then how are we supposed to get rid of them?" asked Hiccup.

"Get your dragons, these guys don't know how to handle them. Trust me on this," said Matt

"Right, we better get them together quick," said Hiccup, "Do you know where Starflame might be?"

"Don't know...I saw her last at the..." began Matt before a click was heard behind them.

"Got you now you-" began the trooper Matt had KO'ed only for a blue blast to make him 'disappear', Starflame landing a second later.

"Good girl..." said Matt happily, patting her.

Hiccup climbed onto Toothless's back and said, "Let's go find the others. But remember, we're probably a big target for them when we're up in the air so be careful."

"They won't dare...I hope," said Matt, adding the last part to himself and Starflame as Hiccup took off.

...

Chloe pushed a stunned marauder trooper over. "Guys, looks like we got trouble. McNeil must really hold a grudge," she said into her comm, taking advantage of the fact that she was, for now alone.

"Ya think?" said Chris's voice, dripping with sarcasm.

"Ok, these guys are breaking the rules. Return the favor, just look clueless to start when you grab these idiot guns," said Chloe, tazer shocking a trooper as he stirred with a groan.

"I think NegaMorph may have gotten a head start on that," said Techo, "Found a couple of guys with fangs in their *ahem* tender parts."

"Make sure they stay down. Last thing we need is an EXP outbreak on top of marauder squad," said Chloe.

NegaMorph's voice was heard on the comm, "Hey, I'm not stupid. I've been firing blanks. Well, blank on viruses."

"Ok...I...hold on," said Chloe, hearing footsteps outside the door. She paused until someone opened the door jumping out with the marauder's blaster and yelling. However, she only got yelling back as it was only Mildew. "Oh...it's you. As much as I'd love to see you accidentally shot with these, maybe you should stay in here," Chloe said, pulling Mildew inside.

"What you trying to do?! Give me a heart attack?!" yelled Mildew.

"You gotta have a heart before you can have an attack," said Chloe.

"Urgh...these dragons probably caused this...damn dragon 'unters," complained Mildew before his eyes adjusted to see the slumped troopers.

"Poachers, I'm surprised you guys haven't had problems with them before," said Chloe.

"Don't look like any poachers I've seen...and if they're after the dragons this is another reason to kick em off..." began Mildew before he saw Chloe's glare.

"Don't finish that sentence...and stay here unless you have a death wish."

"What? With those invaders?" asked Mildew.

"They can't harm you unless you're stupid. I on the other hand...hold on," said Chloe, aiming one of the marauder blasters and firing a twin shot into a stirring trooper. Mildew stared at the blaster with shock. "Uh, these Tuetonic weapons sure are advanced," said Chloe, "I wouldn't use any if I were you."

...

Chris peered out to see some of Alicia's men hiding behind some of the boxes, one setting up a tripod. "Oh, this'll hurt," muttered Techo, the two unable to fire back due to the other troopers on overwatch.

"That thing's gonna do some serious damage around here," said Chris, "Of course, since all the buildings are just wood, that's pretty easy."

"Hey...one of the crates are gone," said Techo, double taking and just avoiding being shot cause Chris dragged him back.

Chris peeped around and said, "Huh, that's odd. I wonder where it went." Then the two of them heard something, the sound of something chewing very loudly with its mouth open. They both peered out in timer to see a box vanish into a mouth hidden under the boxes, unnoticed by the troopers. "No...way," said Chris

"Don't they normally eat rocks?" asked Techo.

Chris cracked open the side of a nearby crate and looked inside. "They are full of rocks," said Chris, "The wood probably adds flavor."

"How long do you think before both the dragon and those guys notice each other?" said Techo happily before an annoyed roar was heard.

"Probably a second after one of them steps on its foot," said Chris. Several panicked screams were heard and the troopers ran past them, one holding half a plasma cannon. "And there we go," said Chris amused.

A ball of molten lava flew past them and exploded near some of the troopers. "We probably ought to keep moving now," said Techo.

...

"We got minor resistance...in pursuit!" yelled a trooper into his comm and rubbing his head as he ran while wondering what it took for a Viking, let alone these twins to attack them...then argue...and then attack each other.

Admittedly, the twins were effective warriors...when they weren't fighting each other. "It's my turn to use the axe," snapped Ruffnut.

"Uh, no, you went...two and one and one times," said Tuffnut.

"When did we start counting chops?" asked Ruffnut.

"I don't know."

"Me neither, but it's still my turn."

"Ok, kids, freeze, stop right where you are we will end you, got that?" said one of the troopers, none of them noticing a thick green smoke starting to flow around them from above and behind.

The twins didn't even seem to hear them. "Can't you just use another axe?" asked Tuffnut.

"That's my axe too," said Ruffnut.

"Don't we also have a sword?"

"You blunted it last week."

"No, you blunted it."

"No, you did."

"You did."

"You did."

One of the troopers snapped at that, firing a round into the air. "Look, we're trying to arrest you two brats. At least look at us when we do it," he snapped before sniffing "Ok...who let rip?" he said.

"Hey, it wasn't me," said another trooper.

"He who smelt it dealt it," said the third.

The first one looked down to see a green smoke before looking back to see the twins looking past them. "Oh no," he muttered, turning to look up.

Above them was the two heads of a large dragon, the one on the right spewing out the green gas. The one on the left had its mouth partially open, showing tiny sparks inside.

"Ok...let's all back up...real...slow…" said the first trooper carefully, his helmet happily confirming the gases flammability. However, they both heard the sound of two sets of fingers snapping simultaneously. This apparently was the signal for the dragon to spit sparks into the gas. "RUN!" snapped the trooper just before the gas ignited.

...

Matt peered round a corner before seeing a fireball on the other side of the town. "Fun...you kids know how to play," he said.

"Looks like the twins have Barf and Belch," said Hiccup before noticing lava balls flying in another part, "And Meatlug has plenty of ammo. That leaves Hookfang and Stormfly to find."

"Ok, let's stay together and make sure-" began Matt before he heard a whirring noise and looked down to see a grapple going tight around his foot. "Crap," he managed before being dragged out. Currently, Starflame was about 15 feet off the ground so it wasn't really a lethal fall. Though it had a pretty rough landing on the ground. Matt groaned and muttered, "Ow, my tailbone."

"Get up," said a female voice, distorted through a helmet filter.

Matt looked up to see the marauder commander from about two weeks ago. "Oh, it's you. I might have known," said Matt, "It's Alice, right?"

"Alicia actually. Now as I said...get up," said the marauder as Matt got up before she leapt forward, delivering several blows to Matt's chest that winded him before kicking his leg from under him.

Matt groaned and said, "You're faster than you look."

"Better nanites, better training, get up," said Alicia, motioning for Matt to stand.

"Actually, I'm comfy down here with my burst spleen thank you," said Matt.

"Then let me help you up," said Alicia before grabbing Matt by his shirt front and lifting him off his feet effortlessly.

"Ok, kinda impressive, but I bet you can't throw me very far," said Matt.

"I could cook you," said Alicia casually.

"You're a splitter, aren't you?" said Matt dully before being punched back into the ground.

"Nope, I'm far worse. Sergeant, forget the others. Without a ship, they're stranded..." she said, looking up to see the dragons circling. "And if they try to interfere...kill them after you kill Lynch." she added, loud enough to get their attention.

"You know, as much as I get the whole bounty hunting thing, you aren't giving me much of a fighting chance," said Matt.

"Really? I'm not using guns, they are...kill him," said Alicia, nodding to her men, who took aim...before shuddering as several spines shot into them from above.

Matt looked up to see Astrid flying on Stormfly. "Thanks kid. How about a little of that magnesium fire?" called Matt. Alicia looked up angrily at that, her eyes looking wonky. "You don't look well," said Matt, unable to help himself, only to be grabbed by the throat again.

"Let's go elsewhere." she snapped, tossing Matt over the edge and jumping after her.

"Ok, have it your way," said Matt before morphing into half-dragon form. However, there was a lot of pain when his tail formed. He glanced at it, he could see there was a bad bend in it.

A second later, everything shimmered, several Atlantean runes probably the equivalent of scolding from the healing nanites. "Oh no," he muttered as the rocks loomed large before something grabbed his arm. "Nice one Starfla-oh, it's you...oh, you're avianos. Wouldn't have called that," he said, looking up to see what he presumed was Alicia.

Her alien heritage was a lot more obvious now, with the large feathered wings and the raptor's beak that her helmet had opened up to make room for. "I should drop you and watch you crack like an egg," snapped Alicia, her voice more melodious now before saying, "But the council wants you alive, so that's how you'll be delivered."

Wait, I thought McNeil wanted me dead," said Matt.

"He would prefer to have you dealt with in public," said Alicia, looking down at the rocks.

"Public execution, huh, I would have pegged him for the 'assassination in silence' type," said Matt.

"It's a new world, Lynch, shame you didn't adjust with it," said Alicia coyly before a fireball parted her feathers.

Matt looked up to see Starflame doing a Mach 2 dive at them. "Why adjust when you can have friends?" replied Matt.

"Then she can play catch," said Alicia, letting go and swooping to the side.

Matt frantically tried to change. "C'mon, c'mon, I don't need to completely transform. Just having wings to avoid going splat is acceptable," he said.

"Denied...critical damage still detected in primary form," said the nanite VI's voice.

"C'mon, it's just my coccyx, humans don't really even need them!" snapped Matt.

"Negative...acid burns still present on primary form," said the VI.

"Still? Why couldn't I have gotten the self-repair type of nanites?" griped Matt.

"Self-repair update in progress," said the VI before time, which from Matt's perspective had slowed to a crawl during his 'conversation' returned to normality...just in time to be caught.

"Alright, now let's show that big buzzard what teamwork's really about?" said Matt. Kala rolled her eyes before banking to see Alicia already picking up speed. However, Alicia was swooping down to finish the job, but flying away from the island. "Let her go," said Matt, "We need to clean up after her flunkies."

...

Back in the village, the dragon riders had fully amassed their forces and were forcing the marauders back. Matt's team was helping to, but mostly from the shadows. Literally in NegaMorph's case.

Hiccup and Toothless circled around for another blast at the running marauders when a red beam sliced through one of their saddle's straps. Hiccup began slipping to one side, causing his leg to disconnect from the stirrup. That, unfortunately, caused Toothless to lose control of his flight pattern. The two landed in a dazed heap...on the wrong side of the little skirmish.

Hiccup was first back to consciousness before looking around for Toothless, who was still out before hearing staggering footsteps. "Wait, that's not Lynch, that's the local," said one voice.

"What difference does it make?" snapped another voice.

"Well, for one thing, he's a timeline specific..."

There was a snapping noise at that and a thud. "Never liked rules..." said the second voice, the tone slurred from a growl. Hiccup decided it might be a good idea to back away quietly and subtly from whoever voice that was.

"Wheeere are yooo going...mammal?" said the second voice, two yellow eyes appearing around the corner. Hiccup jumped and crawled away from the eyes. "Had...enoooough...of zis world...seeing...realives azz...PETS!" said the second voice, the shadow that was visible flickering.

Hiccup cast his eyes around the area, looking for anything that would make a suitable weapon. "Looking for somethink like zis?" said the figure, holding up a half melted axe, a survivor from the armory before effortlessly ripping the metal blade off

Hiccup gulped and asked, "What are you?"

"Zere is no point in tellink you..." said the figure before a scaly arm shot out and grabbed Hiccup. "How about I show you?" snapped a sharp draconic face. At any other time, Hiccup would have been fascinated with such an unusual dragonlike creature. Right now, he was more worried about how many sharp fangs it had. "Now zen...fresh...or cooked?" said the creature, holding up its other free hand that crackled before they heard a growl. "Oh...your slave is avake..." said the splitter.

"He's not my slave, he's my friend," said Hiccup. Toothless roared angrily before spitting a plasma blast at the creature.

The creature dodged with a fast sidestep. "Impressive...my turn I am thinkink," said the creature, sending a repeating blast of blue lightning out Toothless tried to dodge the blast, but the metal on his body made him too easy of a target for the lightning. The creature kept the blast going until Toothless slumped down before glaring at Hiccup. "Now zen," he said before there was a crack and the sound of something hitting the wall behind Hiccup.

The creature looked up and asked, "Vhat vas zat?" A second crack was heard at that, the creature gurgling. The reason for the gurgling became quite evident when spurts of blood start gushing out of its throat, more than a few drops falling on Hiccup. Hiccup fell out of the creatures grasp before, with a 'whoosh' it burst into blue flame, reducing itself to nothing but ash in seconds.

Hiccup blinked before saying, "Okay...don't see that every day. Something tells me that wasn't any kind of dragon that's found around here."

Toothless made a weak moaning getting back up again and shaking his head dizzily. Hiccup went over to Toothless and asked, "Are you alright there, bud?" Toothless shook his head to stop his eyes rolling before nodding. Hiccup looked at the scorched tail prosthetic before saying, "Looks like I'll have to build you a new one."

The shooting appeared to have stopped, Hiccup and Toothless walking out to see Matt's men cheering as the remaining Marauders sailed away. Hiccup sighed and said, "Glad that's over." He looked at the houses with smashed roofs, smoking walls, and doors ripped off and muttered, "Dad's gonna have a cow when he sees this."

"No he won't, not your fault we got invaded by human shaped cockroaches," said one of Matt's men, having overheard.

"Yeah, but it's gonna take weeks to fix all this up," said Hiccup.

"Still not your fault," said the man, walking away, his shape flickering briefly.

Hiccup turned to Toothless and said in a low voice, "Those guys are hiding something. They might be on our side, but we should keep an eye on them."

...

Hiccup and the man turned out to be right: Stoick did have a minor cow (he'd brought one back from the meeting place's settlement) but he didn't blame Hiccup. "Nobody could have seen this coming, son," he said, looking out as repairs were begun...and the bonfire where Matt and his men were burning the marauders' weapons.

"I probably should have been more suspicious of those traders," said Hiccup.

"Hiccup, you can't expect the worst from everyone. Otherwise, you'd never be able to make new friends," said Stoick.

"Who taught you that?" asked Hiccup.

"You did," said Stoick.

"We swept the town, nobody's left," said Matt, walking up.

"You think they'll be back?" asked Stoick, "Apparently they had a particular fascination with you and your crew."

"I doubt it...and if they do, we'll deal with them again," said Matt.

Stoick nodded and said, "Well, at least they didn't try to loot us. It's going to take a while to rebuild this village, even with the dragons' help."

"They won't come back. If they do, we'll blast em," said Matt, to himself more or less.

...

Sometime later, the kids were at the Academy, discussing what had happened during the invasion. "One of those marauders was a dragon?" said Astrid, a little shocked.

"It couldn't have been a real dragon," said Hiccup, "For one thing, dragons don't turn to ash after they die."

"Well...it was definitely real," said Fishlegs, looking at the green blood.

"Yeah, I think I'll to take three baths to get rid of it," said Hiccup with disgust.

"Three baths? That sucks," said Tuffnut, shaking his head.

"Anyways, I'm more concerned about what Lynch and his crew could have done to make those marauders go after them like that," said Hiccup.

"It's worrying. I have a feeling those guys aren't telling us something," said Astrid.

"I have a feeling that they haven't told us anything that's true," said Snotlout.

"We should keep an eye on them," said Astrid, peering over at where two of Matt's men were walking around.

"True, but let's not forget they've been helping us," said Hiccup, "If it wasn't for them, the village would have been completely destroyed."

"Then we'll be careful," said Astrid, none of them noticing how Starflame was staring in horror.

* * *

Another chapter up. And things are starting to look pretty unstable for the gang's disguises. This is hardly the last we see of the Marauders and they won't be coming back to play marbles. But will the gang's cover be blown before that happens? Who's to say? Keep an eye out for next week's update and please review.


	6. An Arm for an Arm

**Voyagers Saga**

**Broken Nest**

**Chapter 6: An Arm for an Arm**

**Author's note: From this chapter on, there will be mentioning of graphic violence, swearing, and other mature themes. Consider them a T rating.  
**

With the excavation of the Hyperion battlecruiser was still underway, Chip decided to make more of his time by working on getting the scanners to full power. "Error...emitter power unaligned," chimed the subroutine, causing Chip to facepalm before looking around at the VR representation of the AI system control.

"I'm starting to understand how some AIs can go mad," said Chip as he tried to work on realigning the energy flow. He may have to go to manual for this.

"Emitter 4 realigned...scanning...alert. Tier 0 technology detected at range," said the subroutine, a screen appearing to show a wire model map with a red dot pulsating.

"Tier 0? Here? It might be something Atlantean," said Chip, "Let's see if I can get a little more focus."

"Unable to comply...emitter power below needed parameters," said the subroutine.

"And I'm going to need permission from the captain to reroute power," said Chip, "I hope he's not too busy right now."

...

Matt was busy...being lazy if the chainsaw snores were any indication. A small pile of ice was forming on him from where it was being shaken from the roof of his room when Chip turned on the base cam to peer at him.

"I might have known," said Chip's voice over the intercom, "Computer control calling Captain Matt, come in, captain." Matt just snorted before scratching his head and continuing to snore. "Well, I guess I have to exact whatever methods necessary to get his attention," said Chip before flipping on the emergency klaxon.

To his shock, Matt just turned over. "Wow, he can really sleep," he muttered before getting an idea. "Matt...I've got coffee," he whispered via Matt's wrist comp, causing Matt to shoot upright.

"Chip, no coffee for you!" snapped Matt.

"Now that I have your waking attention, I think you'll want to see this," said Chip.

Matt stared at the screen for a second before saying faintly, "Zoom out...show me orbit."

"I have a limited orbital range," said Chip, "I can't even reach the moon."

"Just do it!" snapped Matt.

"Ok," said Chip before zooming out to the edge of the stratosphere.

"Warning...Tier 0 technology detected at stratospheric limit," said the subroutine, a fuzzy image of one of Taleth's ships visible hovering alongside another...more terrifying ship. "Dark ones...that's all we need," said Matt.

"Shouldn't they be attacking each other?" asked Chip.

"I know, that's what worries me," said Matt.

"Shouldn't we start fortifying the base before they attack?" asked Chip.

"They won't be after us. I doubt they even know we're here. They'll want that tech," said Matt.

"I'll start preparing the North Star for liftoff immediately," said Chip.

"What? You can barely get it airborne as it is. No, we'll have to be sneakier, get Chloe and Techo," said Matt

...

Chloe and Techo showed up as fast as they could when they found out about the situation. "If both Taleth and the Dark Ones are here, that tech must be something special," said Techo.

"Yeah, maybe a ship...or something we can use to get out of here for good. The only problem we have is getting there. That longboat would take weeks to get there. By then, the tech'll be long gone," said Chloe, "The North Star has more than a few repair problems. We'd probably crash halfway there. That just leaves..."

"You two need some rides," said Matt, grinning.

"Uh, Starflame may be nice, but I'd rather not going through that bonding thing myself," said Techo.

"Tough. You two shouldn't have laughed," said Matt.

"Matt, we don't have time to find our own dragons," said Chloe, "Not to mention we'll be having enough difficulties with Starflame once the ship is up and running."

"Then how else do you expect to get there? Starflame's not carrying you all and neither am I. I still can't change," snapped Matt.

Techo looked thoughtful before saying, "Maybe we can call on the local taxi service."

...

"We just want to head over to the mainland, see who sent those...mercenaries," said Matt.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Stoick, "You'd be on their territory where they'll have the advantage. And I won't be sending any of the young ones, especially my son, into imminent danger without good reason."

"We'll stop them at source," said Matt, promptly.

Chloe added, "Your son and his friends will be in safe hands."

"I can still think of several ways this could go horribly wrong," said Stoick.

"He'll be safe," said Matt.

Stoick gave Matt a stern look before saying, "If anything happens to my son, there will be no corner of this world that you can hide in."

"Ok," whimpered Matt, backing up a step.

...

Hiccup, Astrid, and Snotlout watched as Matt and his two companions got the last of their gear off their boat. "So, this supposed to be a treasure hunt or what?" asked Snotlout.

"Weren't you listening?" asked Astrid.

"I kinda trailed off after blah, blah, blah," said Snotlout.

Matt and co walked up at that, Matt dripping after Starflame had tackled him off the dock again. "Ok...so who's my ride?" said Chloe cheerfully.

"I'll give you a lift," said Snotlout, "All it costs is a kiss."

Chloe cocked her head at that, apparently puzzled, while behind her, Matt and Techo seemed to panic. "Did you just hit on me?" Chloe said politely.

"Well, if you want to think of it that way," said Snotlout.

Chloe smiled the smile that usually has a fin on top and heads for drowning seals. "Come here," she said, in a tone that caused Matt to stare.

Snotlout, however, was oblivious to the imminent danger. "Oh, you wanna hit on me back?" he said as he walked over.

Chloe shook her head before saying "Close your eyes." Snotlout closed his eyes and puckered up, causing Astrid to roll her eyes. A second later, a punch caused Snotlout to spin like a top and stop on his back, Hookfang sniggering as Chloe hissed, "Hit on me again and I will break you like a twig...ok?"

"Ok," said Snotlout weakly.

Astrid sighed and said, "Chloe, you can ride with me. I wouldn't mind having some girl time."

"Cool, Techo, you're with Romeo over here. I don't trust my brother not to kill him," said Chloe.

"She's his brother?" asked Snotlout weakly.

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Hiccup.

...

Taleth and Seleni walked through the hall. "I don't know why we don't simply kill that fat slob and take the starter key." Seleni complained

"It's called 'good form'," said Taleth, "It was separates us from all the other looting ravages who would call themselves 'pirates'."

"It's boring, that's what it is," snapped Seleni before the two stopped and saw the agreed reason: the two Ashen warriors standing outside a guestroom. The two groups had literally ran into each other when they had arrived.

The four of them snarled and instinctively reached for their sidearms. Then Taleth managed to get some control over himself and said, "Seleni, we must not forget. We are guests in the Duke's castle. We wouldn't want to show disrespect to his property."

"Huh, insectoid scum and their pet zombies," Seleni muttered.

"Reptilian mongrels," hissed one of the Ashen warriors.

"That...iz...enough...these...creatures...are not enemies," said the distorted voice of their commander, wearing a skinsuit and looking uncomfortable.

Seleni gave a smirk and said, "I must learn your diet program. The way you squeeze down is something some girls would kill for."

The Ashen looked confused before stopping "You...attempt humor...we will take the akata-latiz. You will fail."

"Your enunciation is almost as bad as your breath," said Seleni.

"Your DNA is broken. Our technology will be welcomed by baron and safely shut down in one cycle. Your genetic technology will damage timeline," snapped the Ashen.

"You'd think we'd be thoughtless enough to leave our powers lying around for some backwater primitives to toy around with?" said Taleth, sounding insulted, "You know nothing about how we operate."

"No, but the jury rigged serum you offered as payment is dangerous," snapped the Ashen.

"As if you would know anything about it," said Taleth, "I didn't see you use your microscope when we presented it."

"Your technology is primitive. We see things different, hybrid," said the Ashen calmly.

"Right, like you have built in x-ray and microscopic vision," said Seleni sarcastically.

"We are not mammals," said the Ashen smugly before walking back into the guest room

Seleni glared after them and said, "We should have made extra sure that we had squashed them all ages ago."

"Enough, look, bug, that ship is Atlantean property," snapped Taleth.

"And you have proven to be very careless caretakers," said the commander before shutting the door.

One of Taleth's men strode up at that. "Sir, we have a problem. The wreckage was definitely Lynch's ship. Nobody else writes 'touch it and die' under the name plate," he muttered.

"The only surprise is that it happens to be in this system, and even that's a small surprise," said Taleth, "I'm afraid the current arrangement demands our full attention. We'll attend to Lynch after we've finished our business."

"Well, sir, I tuned the scanner to check. Three NSC nanite signals are approaching...high speed. They'll be at the coast by nightfall," said the trooper

"Always too nosy for his own good," said Taleth, "I think we can arrange a welcoming party. With luck, we can stage this as an attempt on the baron's life. That should make him more eager to listen to us."

"I'll have a team ready to take him..." began the trooper only for Taleth to say "Are you brain-dead? He'll go through you easily. Seleni will lead your team."

Seleni grinned and said, "And I thought this mission was just going to be dull."

...

The group had set up a camp on a cliff near the coast. "Ok, we'll set up camp here and then head east for the nearest town," said Matt, the group around a fire with the dragons.

"What exactly are we looking for again?" asked Snotlout.

"Do you ever pay attention to what I'm saying? We're looking for Ta-...whoever sent those guys to attack us," said Matt

"Didn't you say you guys did something to tick them off? You sure finding them is a good idea?" asked Hiccup.

"Cut the head off the snake," said Chloe, causing everyone to look, "Standard strategy: take out the leader and the soldiers have no orders."

"That makes sense, but going into their base doesn't," said Astrid.

"Trust me. We can do this. Nobody ever see's us coming," said Chloe.

"So, what exactly did you do to make these guys mad?" asked Hiccup.

"Not much...difference of opinion...maybe we insulted their boss..." said Matt, Chloe muttering "Multiple times."

"And what's this guy's name?" asked Astrid.

"Councilman McNeil..." said Techo before covering his mouth.

Chloe and Matt looked surprised at that. "I woulda thought I'd have been the one to screw up," Matt said.

"McNeil? Then what are we doing in Germany? Shouldn't we be in Scotland or Ireland?" asked Hiccup.

"He...travels," said Chloe innocently, Starflame facepawing.

…

_"Nobody's going to fall for that,"_ said Kala to Toothless

_"Snotlout, maybe. But I think Hiccup and Astrid are too smart for that,"_ said Toothless.

_"Yeah, they're doomed...of all the times not to have a mindwipe glove,"_ said Kala.

_"Maybe now's a good time to try and tell Matt who you really are,"_ suggested Toothless, _"He's probably more open to suggestion."_

Kala shrugged before wandering over.

...

Matt and the group were waiting to see if it took when Starflame nudged Matt. "Not now, Starflame," muttered Matt. Starflame glared and nudged Matt again. "Starflame, this is not a good time," muttered Matt. Starflame snapped at that before chomping on Matt's head.

The others watched with some amusement as Matt was shaken around. "She has got to be the second moodiest dragon I've ever seen," said Techo.

Starflame settled for slamming Matt on the ground until he was embedded before letting go and glaring at him. "Ok, you have my attention, what do you want?" said Matt in a strained tone.

Starflame looked around before seeming to mime something. "What is she doing?" asked Astrid.

"I think she's trying to tell Matt something," said Hiccup.

"Erm...you want a sandwich?" said Matt, the others wincing as Starflame seemed to twitch before slamming Matt around again.

"You're ice cold, Lynch," said Techo.

"Oooow..." moaned Matt as Starflame grabbed a branch and began drawing an arrow on the group before leaping in front of it smugly.

Matt managed to turn himself over before seeing that Starflame had clearly written the word 'KALA' in the dirt. "What? Kala? You know where Kala is?" asked Matt. Starflame nodded before tapping the arrow beside her. "She's that way?" said Matt, carefully.

Starflame's smugness promptly vanished and she let out an angry roar before blasting Matt point-blank with a fireball before running off. "Yeah...I don't think that was the answer," said Chloe weakly before stopping, saying "What was that?"

"My skin roasting, I'll peel it off next week," said Matt.

"What was that?" said Hiccup before a snapping was heard.

"What WAS that?" said Astrid, grabbing her axe.

Snotlout was picking at his nails with a dagger and hadn't been listening at all. "Ok, no one can be that naturally apt at ignoring unless there was something wrong with their head," said Techo.

Matt came round before hearing a rapidly approaching whistling. His instincts took over and a plasma blast shot out to incinerate the approaching arrow.

Matt sat up before noticing the other kids staring at him. "What?" he asked.

"Did you just destroy that arrow with magic?" asked Astrid.

"Erm...yes..." said Matt, innocently before seeing a dozen or so men-at-arms running up. "HALT, IN THE NAME OF THE DUKE."

"What Duke?" asked Matt, looking around, "Someone lose their dog?" On cue two of the larger men-at-arms tackled him down. "Ok, now I'm just gonna have to rough you up," said Matt. With that, he flung the two of them off. "Ok, who's next?" he said.

A second later, an arrow shot into his leg. Time stood still for a second before Matt twitched and let out a surprisingly high-pitched scream, hopping around until he was tackled again.

"Oh, like he was never shot before," said Techo sarcastically, "I mean, it's a primitive arrow, how much could that-" There was a 'thuk' before an arrow landed in his fleshy arm. Techo looked at it before saying, "Ow, that was, ow, right there."

...

Kala was sobbing next to a stream when the other dragons wandered up. _"Kala, it'll be ok,"_ said Toothless, _"Matt has to figure it out at some point."_

_"NO HE WOOOON'T! HE'S A MORON!"_ wailed Kala.

_"He might be...overlooking at times, but he will see who you are,"_ said Stormfly, _"You two are destined for each other."_

_"You don't know him like I do. He once read a map upside down for half an hour without noticing,"_ snapped Kala.

Hookfang chuckled at that, causing Stormfly and Toothless to give him disapproving looks. _"What? It's funny,"_ said Hookfang. A high pitched scream was heard at that, causing all four dragons to vibrate in pain. "Ow, what was that?" asked Hookfang.

_"There's only one person I know of who squeals in pain like that,"_ said Kala, _"Well, one human I know of."_

_"Who?"_ asked Toothless, weakly before Kala charged off, screaming _"I'M COMING TO SAVE YOU, BUSHI BU!"_

_"Do all dragonesses flip flop like that or just the ones who are actually aliens?"_ asked Hookfang.

The four arrived to see the group surrounded, Matt under a dog pile and tied up and the others backing up. Another figure was strolling forward and Kala found the smell familiar. Kala snarled before charging at the figure.

The figure turned, allowing Kala a view of the figure's face, causing her to skid, allowing the figure to send a blast of lightning into her chest. The blast was enough to send Kala flipping backwards and crash into the other dragons who were arriving.

Toothless was first up only to hear the figure saying "Ok...you twist the orb once around like so." before throwing a metal orb towards the dragons. Toothless was about to jump when several arcs of lightning shot out of the orb. His last vision was of the figure sending a golden orb into one of the duke's men as he aimed a crossbow.

...

Not too far away, the other team was watching Lynch's group get capture and weren't completely happy. "I can't believe we missed it," said Seleni, "I never should have taken your directions."

"They musta been tracking him too," said Janeth, in his dragon form before saying, "That local variant that attacked first. Did she smell familiar?"

"You have the better nose, you tell me," said Seleni.

"It's...it's Kai, I'm certain," said Janeth

"Kai? I know she wasn't the sharpest knife, but she wouldn't have done so amateurish as to enter the reality field the wrong way," said Seleni.

"I doubt it was intentional. We'd better report back," said Janeth before seeing Seleni's glare. "Now!" he roared in her ear.

"Fine, whatever," said Seleni before they flew off.

...

Matt woke with a groan to see he was in, as Chip had once joked, his 'natural environment': a cell. "Well, this is just great," grumbled Matt, wincing as his arrow wound throbbed.

"The screaming one's awake. Lord Taleth will want to see him. Go tell the Duke he's awake," muttered one of the guards.

"Hey, who are you calling screaming one?" demanded Matt.

"You, you scream like my daughter," said the guard sternly.

"Come over here and say that," snapped Matt.

"No chance. Lord Taleth and Lord Xinthi said you can kill with your little finger," said the guard, proving he had a moderate IQ.

"Of course it would be Taleth," muttered Matt.

Matt glared anyway before hearing a clank and looking down to see he had more chains and metal on then most mech armors. "Oh...and we quadruple-locked your chains," said the guard casually.

"What makes you think I can't break out of them anyways?" said Matt, pulling at his chains.

"Because if you do, I'll tear your head off," said a familiar voice, Matt turning gloomily to see Seleni at the top of the stairs.

"Oh...it's you," he said dully.

"I must really thank you for showing up," said Seleni, "Watching Taleth negotiate around with the Dark Ones was getting pretty dull."

"Oh, let me guess, Taleth wants to torture me horribly?" said Matt dully.

"Yep, I wanted to do most of it, but Taleth insists we let the new blood have a chance," said Seleni, sounding a little disappointed.

"New blood? Kai's K.I.A. Have you forgot already?" said Matt.

"Nope, I'd be dancing on her grave if she had one," said Seleni, "Taleth meant the one that came before her."

"Wait, what? You planned the whole Avalar thing in advance?" said Matt, genuinely surprised.

"Maybe, maybe not, I'm not the one who's supposed to be giving information, you are," said Seleni.

"What information? The NSC wants to kill us. There's a queue to dance on my grave at the moment." said Matt as the guards opened the gate.

"Well, Taleth would like to know where the rest of your friends are, but he's more interested as to where you got that nanite upgrade," said Seleni.

"Nanites'r'us. It was three for one Friday," said Matt sarcastically.

...

Kala and the other dragons had been chained in a pen in the courtyard, several of Taleth's warriors on guard. A good idea as it turned out if the angry looks from the castle inhabitants were any indication. _"Urgh...I hate Dark Ones..."_ she grumbled.

_"They don't look that dark,"_ said Hookfang, _"They look pretty pale actually."_

_"That's because Techo theorized they're reanimated corpses,"_ said Kala casually. The dragons looked to see four of the Dark Ones' warriors passing by, walking in perfect unnatural symmetry. _"See? Living people don't walk like that,"_ said Kala, noticing how the warrior guards tensed up. On cue the Dark Ones stopped too before seemingly losing interest and continuing, one of them staring past them.

_"What is he looking at?_" asked Stormfly, turning her head to keep him with her line of vision.

_"I dunno. Those guys are basically drones, got the free will and curiosity of a cabbage,"_ said Kala, curiously noticing how the drone finally shook his head before walking after his companions. Kala and the others finally turned to see what had got the drone's attention and seeing a woman frogmarching Matt along.

Kala snarled before throwing herself forward, even though her chains kept her back. Seleni turned at that, looking directly at Kala before grinning and drawing a finger across her throat before pushing Matt onwards.

_"She is in so much trouble when I get my claws on her,"_ snarled Kala.

"_You know her? She smells weird,"_ said Hookfang.

Seleni turned to give them one last nasty smile, allowing her eyes to flash acid green, causing the dragons except Kala to jump back. _"That's cause she's about as human as we are,"_ said Kala, unable to stop herself grinning at the other's expressions.

...

Matt was pushed into a...well, a rather nice room actually, Taleth sitting back on the bed with a smug look. "Oh look what the wyvern dragged in," he said smugly.

Matt glanced around before saying, "Ghoulwyrm's not here."

"Oh Janeth, let's start the fun. Rip that piece of junk off his arm," said Taleth calmly, pointing to Matt's wrist computer.

Janeth calmly walked over before yanking Matt's wristcomp off, breaking it into a few more than two pieces. "Hey, I don't break your stuff," snapped Matt.

"I'm sorry..." muttered Janeth in a tone that made Matt think it didn't refer to his broken wristcomp. Taleth slapped his hands together before saying "Ok, let's get to work. Keenai, come on in."

Matt looked up to see a young woman walk in. She looked rather pretty, though her chalky skin, snow white hair, and pink eyes were a little unsettling. There was also something vaguely familiar about her.

"Have we met?" asked Matt.

The woman smiled and said in a distinct Irish accent, "Nae, you woulda remembered if we had."

"Ok, you sure? You look like someone I know." said Matt before leaning back as Keenai leaned in.

"I'd wager you've met one of me kin before," said Keenai, "I've heard you were a far-traveled one."

"Come to think, your accent is familiar," said Matt curiously before Taleth said "Give him a lungful please, my dear."

Keenai grinned before she started trilling in a high-pitched tone. Matt wasn't impressed until it suddenly felt like all his nerves were trying to work themselves out of his skin. "Ow...OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!" yelled Matt before screaming as his form rippled into his hybrid form.

Taleth smiled before raising a hand to signal Keenai to stop. He unstopped his ears and said, "Keenai is a rather unique specimen. Typically, we try to recruit new Shar-Virk from humans, but Keenai was something more...special."

"The...fuck? You...morphed...a siren?" said Matt, panting.

"Nae, not a siren, though I can be as pleasant as one," said Keenai in a more sultry tone. Matt's nerves reacted to her voice again, this time almost going numb from relaxation.

"Erm, Keenai, I wouldn't do...that," said Janeth, dully as Matt spasmed before his eyes went red.

"Who the smeg are you? Why are we in chains? Oh, why can't I be the dominant one?" moaned 'Matt'.

"We can discuss that later, Draconus, but I need to talk to Matt right now," said Taleth.

"What if I don't wanna back down?" retorted Draconus.

"Then Keenai will have to persuade you," said Taleth before nodding to her. Keenai took a deep breath before letting out a piercing scream.

Draconus snapped before headbutting Keenai in terror. Keenai stopped screaming as she was buffeted. She winced before glaring and growling, "You'll pay for that," her voice causing Draconus's nerves to spasm.

"Keenai, not yet," said Taleth sharply before pushing her aside. "Now, down to business: why is the NSC here?" he said calmly.

Draconus groaned before saying, "What's it to ya?"

"Why...are...they...here?" snapped Taleth only to be shocked as Draconus said "To kill us."

"Been making too much trouble for your bosses, haven't you?" said Seleni.

"Who cares?" said Draconus before twitching as Matt took over again.

"I knew you had few scruples, Taleth, but converting a banshee into a Shar-Virk, that's plain nuts," said Matt.

"She's perfect, though she doesn't have an other. We added that later on," said Taleth, laughing as Matt tried to tear free.

"Not ta mention I have an even rarer type of dragon," said Keenai, "One of the most terrible kinds of all: a dragon of fear."

"Oh...met one," said Matt calmly, causing everyone to sweatdrop.

"Then you would know how Keenai can strip away what's left of your sanity layer by layer," said Taleth.

"You get me down and up comes Draconus to tear you all apart. Deal with him and back I come to blast you all," said Matt with some worrying logic.

"Well, so much for the psychological torture," said Seleni with glee, "Can we move on to the physical stuff now?"

"By all means," said Taleth.

...

In comparison to the others, Hiccup, Astrid and Snotlout were getting the 5-star service.

"This isn't so bad," said Snotlout as he relaxed on a soft bed.

"What about Matt and the others?" said Hiccup, looking out the window sadly to where the dragons were.

"Why is it we're being treated better than them?" asked Astrid.

"Maybe they don't like hurting kids," said Snotlout.

The trio looked over to the fully suited figure standing outside their door. "We're prisoners too," said Hiccup, "Our cell may be better padded, but it's still a cell."

"Negative...I am here for your protection," intoned the warrior in a neutral voice.

"Protection from what?" asked Astrid.

"Species 212 hybrids within zone...threat level high. No further information available," said the warrior.

"What the heck does that mean?" asked Snotlout.

"No further data," said the warrior before stepping smartly in the way as the kids walked forward.

"We can take this loony, it's three against one," whispered Snotlout.

"He's probably tougher than he looks," whispered Astrid, "We need to catch him by surprise."

Oddly enough, said surprise occurred when someone in another room started screaming. The warrior turned to look at the scream's direction before turning back to see the kids were running away.

...

Taleth and Xindri were both before the Duke, presenting their offerings when Xindri tensed up. "What?" he rasped.

"Pardon?" asked the Duke.

"It seems that the Vikings have escaped security," said Xindri.

"How could you know?" asked the Duke.

"I think the more important question is how could this have happened under your guardsman's watch?" said Taleth smugly.

"Screams from your quarters," said Xindri smugly.

Taleth scoffed at that, "Hah, at least my men know how to guard. The Duke's men could do better."

"No one could do better than us," snapped Xindri, "Especially the poorly organized minions of this bloated frog!"

The Duke paused at this, Taleth smirking at Xindri before the Duke said calmly, "Get out."

"If you'd allow me a moment to explain..." started Xindri.

"I said out!" snapped the Duke.

Xindri glared before saying "You have made a bad mistake. Never trust a reptile." before walking out, snapping his fingers and causing his escort to fall in step behind him.

Taleth turned to the duke and said, "Some people don't know when to let an insult slide."

"Fine, you still haven't said why you want my jewel," said the Duke.

Taleth shrugged. "It's...a curiosity," he said, his smile vanishing as the Duke smirked "Then you won't mind increasing your offer."

"Sir, you've already been promised what the jewel is worth. If you insist on an increased offer, you'll have given up more of yourself," said Taleth.

"I am the duke here. If you cannot meet my demands, I will simply recall your opposition again. Now go away and think your position over," said the Duke.

Taleth glowered before turning away. This was nothing but a game to the Duke, but soon he'll find himself the loser.

...

Hiccup and Astrid peered around the corner to see their guard still looking for them though he seemed twitchy, talking with an annoyed tone and more human. "C'mon kids...come on out. This is not a good place to get lost," it called.

"Maybe Snotlout is right, maybe he is loony," whispered Astrid.

The warrior's head span round at that, looking in their direction. "Hey...get back here!" he called.

"Run," whispered Hiccup before they both bolted.

"Hey!" snapped the warrior, running after them...and getting tripped by Astrid, rolling and slamming into a door.

"Ow..." moaned the warrior as started getting up. However, his helmet had a big crack in it that ran down the front and apparently, it was keeping him from seeing clearly. The trio stared to see what looked like a roman Nubian slave...though one of his eyes was a milky white and the other had a translucent piece of glowing glass over the other.

"Ok, at least this guy is human...I think," said Hiccup nervously.

"There you are...get back here!" snapped the man, heading up to them angrily.

Of course, the two of them promptly ran in the other direction. "So, do we have a plan or are we just going to keep running from him?" asked Astrid.

"Dammit, kids, I said STOP!" snapped the warrior, a golden orb shooting out his gauntlet and over their heads. Hiccup and Astrid quickly stopped in their tracks, pretty sure that the orb would explode or something. The shot did just that, blowing through the wall and leaving an orb sized hole. "There...NOW will you stop running?" said the man, walking forward

Astrid lifted her fists up and said, "You're not taking us back without a fight."

"Don't make me..." began the warrior before there was a clang and he fell forward.

This revealed Snotlout standing behind him with a mace in his hand. "Did you see that? That was a perfect strike," said Snotlout.

"Good, let's go before he wakes up," said Astrid, pulling Snotlout past the stunned guard.

"Right, we need to get our dragons so we can bust everyone out," said Hiccup.

"Hey...who let you out?" said a voice, several guardsmen walking heading into view with one of the other 'visitors' troopers, its staff pointed at them

"Oh, not again," moaned Snotlout.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire," said Hiccup as the guardsmen approached.

"Who's that?" said the staff owner, pointing at the stunned figure.

Snotlout quickly hid the mace behind his back and said, "I don't know. He was like this when I found him."

The man glared turning to aim. "Put the mace down, 'dragon trainer'," he said, saying the last word like it was an insult.

"Snotlout, maybe you should do what he says," said Hiccup.

Snotlout said sulkily "A Viking never drops his weapon." causing Astrid and Hiccup to facepalm.

The trooper shrugged, "Fine, the Vikings are all yours. We were going to kill them anyway."

"You see? It wouldn't have been a good idea to drop it anyways," said Snotlout before holding up his mace and shouting, "Who wants a whack first?"

The trooper shrugged and a golden orb blasted out his staff, vaporizing the tip of the mace. "Like I said, all yours," he said, the men at arms smiling coldly and drawing their swords.

"Uh, Hiccup, we have Plan B, right?" asked Snotlout.

Their attackers stepped calmly over the unconscious warrior...who was beginning to stir as his mace bruise was seen visibly vanishing.

...

Alert...Hive connection lost...memory suppressants offline...Drone 21-B classified as rogue...transmitting comm to HiveMaster Xindri

...

Xindri was returning to his quarters when one of his technicians contacted him. "Commander, we've just learned that one of the new drones has been disconnected and has probably gone rouge."

"This is all we need. We barely got any before Darkans evacuated that...disaster. Inform Warmaster Darkans and prepare to leave orbit. If they do activate the golden barge, we will want to be long gone," said Xindri

"Are we sure we want to abandon the akata-latiz?" asked the technician.

"To quote a mammal verse: Screw it!" snapped Xindri.

...

As the warrior became more awake, the repressing programs and protocols in his head faded, allowing a flood of memories to come back in.

...

"Any last words?" said one of the guards before a voice behind them yelled "GODDAMMIT!"

Everyone turned to look at the warrior getting back up, his visible eye regaining color and his skin becoming less pale.

"Dumb Ashen warriors," said the trooper, firing a blast into the waker's chest, knocking him back on his back. "Now as for you..." started the trooper before the first one got back up.

"That hurt," he said in a very cross tone.

"Oh hell..." began the trooper before he was punched off his feet.

"Ok...who's next, you smegheads?" said the warrior. The guardsmen had lost a fair amount of their confidence and were backing up. "Anyone?" said the warrior peering around before smirking and saying "Boo." The guards screamed before running away, a couple of them dropping their swords.

"I love it when they do that," said the warrior smugly before noticing the first one getting back up again. "I thought Taleth learnt his lesson the first time we kicked your asses," he said conversationally.

"Shut your mouth, Ashen scum," snapped the trooper as he aimed his staff at the figure.

The 'Ashen scum' seemed surprised and puzzled at that. "What's an Ashen?" he said.

The trooper didn't answer that question, or at least in a civil way. He just blasted the warrior back again.

"You're not so tough. The Ashen must have been picking for scraps when they selected you. You'd be better off rotting in your grave," said the trooper before moving in to finish him off.

He was about to fire before there was a rapid 'blakblak' noise, white smoke rising from his back before he fell forward. The warrior had sat back up and was looking at the large gauntlets on his arms, one of them having fired the shot that ended the trooper. "Ok, where did these come from?" he asked.

"You saved us though," said Astrid as the warrior got up.

"Ok...first off I want some answers. 1: Who the hell are you guys. 2: Where the hell did that volcano and the Heartless go? 3: Why am I wearing this high-tech crap?" he said.

"What volcano?" asked Hiccup.

"Who are the Heartless?" asked Astrid.

"What are these things?" asked Snotlout, poking the figure's gauntlet.

"Hey, even I don't know what they are, no touching," snapped the warrior before saying, "Name's Wilson...wish Lynch was around here. He's insane but somehow everything works out."

"You know Matt?" asked Hiccup.

"He's my boss. Wait, I know that look. You've heard him singing," said Wilson sternly.

"Er..." started Hiccup.

...

A few weeks ago

Every dragon in the village was running/flying away as far they could from the mead hall. Quite a few villagers followed after them, covering their ears as they ran. Hiccup and the others peered out, clutching their ears to see Matt apparently singing to Starflame, who was the only one apparently enjoying this ear-based agony.

...

"Oh, yeah...we've heard it…" said Hiccup with a shudder.

"Then you probably know where he is," said Wilson.

"He's in this castle and being interrogated," said Astrid.

"Good, now why'd Taleth's buddy call you dragon trainers?" said Wilson, peering around a corner.

"Uh...cause we are?" said Snotlout.

"Aw man, not more of em. Lynch'll kill me...again if we don't get your buddies. Let's just listen for the shouting," said Wilson.

"Well, we better hurry," said Astrid, "Who knows what kind of tortures they could be inflicting on Matt."

"Believe me, we wanna pity his captors. Matt's the only guy who annoyed some captors into PAYING us to rescue him," said Wilson.

"I'd have to see that to believe it," said Snotlout.

"Don't worry, we'll hear the explosions. We'll probably need help though. Hmm...where's the dungeons?" said Wilson.

...

Chloe and Techo had spent most of the time in a separate dungeon from Matt...in neighboring cells. "I hear yer brother upset the Duke's new friend," said one of the guards to Chloe, sneering.

"He upsets a lot of people," said Chloe casually, "Though it'd probably be a bit quick to say your duke has a new friend."

"Lord Taleth's going to give the Duke the magic needed to rule the Teutonic kingdom easily," gloated the other guard.

"Magic? You're not serious, are you?" asked Chloe, showing a slight bit of concern.

"Indeed, it was perfect," said the first guard with a laugh adding "Maybe they're testing them on yer friend?" before there was the sounds of several clunks and a clanking noise from the stairs leading up to the castle...followed by footsteps.

"Heads up, we've got company," said one of the guards.

Chloe and Techo peered over too before backpedalling to the back of their cells as a familiar shape came down into the dungeon. "Hey...I thought all those left," said one of the guards.

"Get away from that. It's gonna kill us," gibbered Techo before stopping as the helmeted figure said "I'm sorry, is this the cafeteria?" before raising both gauntlets and blasted the two guards.

"Wait a second, I know that voice..." said Chloe.

"Hey boss, I'd stand back, still getting the hang of these killer gloves," said the 'drone warrior', blasting the locks out.

"Wilson...but you're dead..." said Techo weakly before he fell backwards, out cold

"I'm really tempted to do that to," said Chloe, "Last we saw, you were trapped in a cave fighting Heartless."

"Last thing I remember. Next thing I know I'm wearing this crap, useful though. One of Taleth's little plasma staff things didn't even scratch it," said Wilson, dragging Techo out by his foot.

"Er, you do realize that 'crap' is the same stuff the Dark Ones use, right?" asked Chloe.

"Hey, I've apparently been dead for the last month or two, give a dude a break. By the way, who are these three? Taleth's goons wanted to ice em," said Wilson.

Chloe looked at the kids and gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're alright," she said.

"Yeah, I think it's high time you give us some answers, real answers," said Hiccup.

"Ok, it's probably easier to wait till we're not in mortal danger..." began Chloe only for Astrid to snap "No, we want answers now."

Chloe sighed before saying, "Ok, but you won't believe me the first time. The truth is that all of us are actually from other worlds. And not Asgard or Jotunheim or whatever other Norse worlds, but from a different universe entirely."

The others stared before Snotlout said finally, "Prove it."

Wilson grinned, "He did say too, boss lady. It's all you."

"Watch carefully," said Chloe before morphing into her half-dragon form.

The trio immediately jumped back as Wilson laughed. "Yeah, I'm surprised they kept it secret this long with their track record," he laughed.

Chloe gave him an annoyed look and said, "We were doing good until the Marauders showed up."

"Marauder division? Why the hell are they after you...what did Matt do this time?" said Wilson.

"That's an almost-as-long explanation and I'll indulge everyone as soon as we get out of here," said Chloe.

Techo came round with a groan then. "Urgh...hey, who shot the ga...uuuurgh dead guy!" he groaned before passing out again as he saw Wilson.

"Is he gonna be like this all day?" asked Wilson in an annoyed tone.

"Let's just go. Take the kids and get their dragons back. Me and Techo'll get my brother," said Chloe.

...

Elsewhere, an unspeakable sonic torturing was going on in another room that shouldn't be subjected to the ears of mortals who don't deserve it. The strange part would have been that the person doing the torturing was the one who was supposed to be being tortured. "Thank you...and for my next number...40,000 bottles of beer," said Matt happily.

Seleni's eyes were watering with pain. "Please, no more, no more..." she whined.

Keenai was looking at Matt with astonishment, "That had to have been the worse singin' I've ever heard. Even I've never managed to get a note so horribly painful."

"Why thanks, it's genetic," said Matt before bursting into song again, causing Seleni to vibrate visibly.

"Are you sure ya can't teach me to sing like that?" asked Keenai.

"No, I just sing...wait. You're evil, why would I help you?" said Matt, pausing in his singing, much to Seleni's relief.

"But ye make such a perfectly horrible wailin', I must learn how ta match it," said Keenai.

"No," said Matt childishly.

"C'mon, I can make it worth your while," said Keenai in a coy tone that sent shivers down Matt's nerves.

"No...not a chance," said Matt, trying to inch back.

"I have ye've misplaced yer mate, maybe I can fill in for her," said Keenai, getting uncomfortably close. Matt began to twitch, Seleni noticing this and almost tempted to warn Keenai of the imminent violence about to occur. "Ooh, ye're so tense, maybe I can loosen you up a bit," said Keenai, rubbing Matt's shoulders.

Seleni counted under her breath...as far as 2 before a kick sent Keenai flying. "Oh, I musta forgot to tie his feet," she muttered before noticing Matt was in a cold sweat, patches of metal on his left arm. "Lynch, you don't seem too well," said Seleni, "Quite a nasty rash you've got there."

"They...should put...rampancy...as a warning on...the nanites," winced Matt.

"You know, I bet we can do something about those," said Seleni, "If you're willing to negotiate that is."

"Really? I am kinda hungry...got any mutton?" asked Matt.

"Mmm...mutton..." said both Seleni and Keenai, drooling at the thought.

Then Seleni shook her head and said, "Don't try to distract me."

"Well, you've already done it for me," said Matt, lifting his arms up to reveal that the restraints were dissolved before he spat a plasma blast in their faces and another at the wall.

"Ladies, it's been fun for a while, but I really don't want to be around you anymore," said Matt before snatching Keenai's wristcomp and jumping through the hole he made.

Seleni seemed to snap at that "No...no...NO!" she roared before throwing herself out the hole after him.

...

Meanwhile...

The guards outside the dragon pens were surprised to see the three Vikings walking into the courtyard. "Hey, heads up," muttered the first one to his friends.

"Hey there, we're here to pick up our dragons," called the lanky one with the pegleg.

"Not a chance. These dragons' days as pets is over," said the first one, leveling his staff.

"Haven't you asked for their opinion?" called the girl.

"They're not Avalar genome, they can't talk," said the second one before looking at the girl, "But a saddle...really?"

"Have you ever ridden on a dragon's back for hours?" remarked the girl.

"No, but you're won't again. Warleader Taleth made it clear what to do if we saw you," said the guard who had remained silent.

"Bet you wouldn't be so tough if our friends were here," said the muscular boy.

"Yeah...and where are they?" said the first trooper with a smirk before a lightning bolt shot out from nowhere and fried him.

"That would be them right about now," said the lanky one.

The other guards turned in time for several laser blasts to hit them, Techo and Wilson walking forward while to their surprise, something else did. The large yellow dragoness roared angrily before shooting more lightning bolts.

The Duke's guards that were there just ran for it. It was only when the dragoness started laughing with Techo and Wilson that the kids realized who it was. "Chloe, is that you?" asked Astrid.

"Who else could it be?" said the dragoness with a slightly deeper version of Chloe's voice.

"You really have been keeping stuff," said Hiccup, noticing the shocked dragons.

"That's barely scratching the surface," said Techo, "A good part of the crew don't even closely resemble humans without their disguises."

"Techo, let's leave it at that for now," said Chloe before an explosion was heard above, a shape shooting out the hole before a much larger dragoness demolished the hole in pursuit, a smaller one following.

"What was that?!" shouted Snotlout.

"Well, Matt and me aren't the only ones around who can turn into dragons," said Chloe, "Taleth's guys can too."

"Look, kids. Hop it, these guys are a whole different level of pain," said Techo.

The kids quickly ran over and tried to get the dragons out of their chains.

...

Matt was flying as fast as he could, hoping to draw Seleni clear. "Come on...faster, faster, faster," he muttered, panicking as another acid blast missed him, followed by a sonic burst that blew part of the battlements to dust. While there may be a small chance that Keenai would go easy on him, he was pretty sure Seleni wouldn't be holding back. "Ohshitohshitohshit!" he muttered, turning tight to avoid another blast.

He nearly tumbled out of the air to avoid Seleni's next attack, which firing an acid stream through the battlement in front of him. "Craaap," he muttered before turning to spit several plasma blasts back at them, watching as one caught Keenai, sending her spiraling into a wall with a painful 'fwack'.

"Take that, fangirl!" yelled Matt before Seleni barreled into him.

"You're DEAD!" roared Seleni before she heard two whistling noises and a couple of blue fireballs hit her side, painful but harmless. Seleni snarled and turned to glare at the two black dragons who were flying towards her, one of them carrying the lanky boy on his back.

Her eyes widened as her nanites zoomed in on the ridden dragon, a warning symbol flashing that demanded she back off. Seleni growled and disengaged from Matt, but not before leaving several acid green scratches on his wounded arm.

"Warning...you are engaging an essential...disengage," said her nanites' intelligence.

Seleni hissed, "I'm working on it," before breathing out a green mist that clung in the air. Another double shot hit her back, Seleni turning her head with a growl to see the two attackers vanishing into the clouds. Seleni was extremely tempted to dissolve the brats, but that would have earned a chewing out from Taleth about messing with timelines...

A third blast hit the back of her head at that and even though it had been Matt, something in Seleni's brain went boing. She let out a loud screech before spitting a corrosive stream around her, not carrying if it hit her enemies or the castle.

Toothless and Starflame scattered to avoid the blast of poison, some splashing onto the end of Hiccup's false leg. There was an acidic stench and Hiccup looked down to see the poison seeping through both his leg and the stirrup. "Oh, not again," he moaned.

...

Toothless looked behind to see the acid eating away before hearing Kala. _"Fly down...into some water or something." _Toothless looked around before spotting the river that lead into the sea. He tucked his wings and made a beeline for the water.

Kala looked down to see a splash and the dragon and rider pop out the water before sighing...and then remembering Seleni just before said Shar Virk smashed into her, sending her down. She furled up her wings to avoid damaging them, but she ended up tumbling along the ground before she came to a stop.

...

Matt gulped, seeing he was alone now before another blast nearly hit him. "Hey...you're not supposed to shoot timeliners!" he yelled, before another blast nearly melted his head.

"They won't get shot if they get out of my way!" snapped Seleni before spitting more acid.

Matt glared before banking around and shooting past, raking his claws over her side as he passed. She screeched before managing to blindside Matt with a thwack from her tail. Matt yelped before, on instinct, biting down into said tail. Seleni roared before thrashing her tail from side to side to shake Matt off.

After a minute she sent Matt towards the ground and skidding along it, the smoke clearing to show he'd shifted back. "Finally..." she said happily before banking for a swoop.

...

Taleth stared at what was left of the Duke. With the Ashen gone and their insistence on a fair negotiation, he'd been able to put the annoyance out of his misery. He had to admit, he had been keeping a tight hold of temper for quite some time so he may have been a bit overzealous with the Duke.

"Sir, our ship's in orbital position to begin digging," said one of Taleth's warriors.

"Tell them they have full clearing," said Taleth, "We've wasted enough time languishing here."

"Yes, sir," said the warrior, vanishing as a teleporter beam picked him up.

...

Chris looked at his comm. "We're about 10 minutes away. Chip's finally got the hang of the ship," he said.

"It's not too hard once I've figured out the right configurations," said Chip's voice.

A burst of energy fire was heard over the com and Chris said "Erm...you ok over there?" only to hold his com away from him as Chloe yelled "DO I SOUND OK? We've been rumbled and now we're under attack...GET HERE!" before the com broke up at the same time as a series continuous explosions were heard. Chris and several bridge crew peered up to see several golden blasts lancing down from the sky to blast into the ground.

"Well, no point in hiding we're aliens now," said Chris, "Chip, get us over there and all weapons primed."

"Not a chance. I'm barely keeping us going. If they wanted to shoot us, they would have," snapped Chip.

"Then what are they shooting at? They wouldn't be wasting so many shots with the captain," said one of the crewmembers.

"I don't know...let's just hurry," said Chris.

...

Taleth could hear the blasting already when he saw two blur shoot by the window.

Taleth looked out to see Seleni chasing after Lynch. "Why am I not surprised?" he muttered, "I should have posted more guards at his cell."

He walked over to watch in time to see Matt bite Seleni's tail and be sent into the ground with force. "Wait, Seleni, break off, get away from him," he said with rising tension into his com.

"I've finally gotten that meddlesome thorn in my paw right where I want him," growled Seleni, "I will not waste this opportunity."

"No, you don't understand. Get away from him!" snapped Taleth.

"No, this time, he dies!" shouted Seleni before diving at Matt.

...

Draconus opened his eyes with a groan and looked around. "Oh...nice landing Lynch," he groaned before looking up to see Seleni bearing down on him. "But first...some fireworks," he groaned, clicking his fingers.

Seleni grimaced as she felt the temperature go up. But she couldn't have built up that much heat with the fighting. But then she felt a burning sensation within her and it was quickly spreading. Only now realizing what Taleth meant, she tried to fly higher. It was too late, her bones being highlighted against her skin before she coughed up a fireball and fell to the ground, shifting to a burnt human as Draconus got up and strolled in her direction.

"Not sure where Lynch picked up that trick, but it sure did the trick," commented Draconus.

Seleni was shaking her head as Draconus leaned in. "Are we begging? Oh please. You must have heard your victims beg many, many times," said Draconus softly.

"Mercy...please..." gasped Seleni.

"Mercy? To you? I don't have very mercy to give and I'm sure not going to waste it on you," said Draconus before holding his hand in front of her face, "Say hello to Kai for me. She might be coming back, but you won't."

Seleni closed her eyes before there was a 'frap' noise of a plasma burst shooting out, her body shaking for a second before her now-headless body slumped back.

"She wasn't too hard to kill," said Draconus before wincing in pain. He looked at his arm which was showing a few more metal patches. Also, the scratches Seleni had left him still had a green tinge and the flesh around them was starting to look diseased and black.

He winced before pulling out Keenai's wrist comp and clicking it on. "New user detected...scanning...Shar clearance confirmed...alert...rampancy detected...intervening," said a female voice in his head as a hologram appeared over his arm from the small metal strap he'd put on.

"Make it quick, will you? I really need a doctor," said Draconus.

"Complete...nanite firmware is being upgraded...ALERT...INCOMING ATTACK!" chimed the voice, Draconus turning in time for a silvery blast of energy to send him flying. Draconus landed and was send tumbling back a considerable distance. After he stopped, he struggled to get up, his arm throbbing with pain.

"YOU...YOU FOOLISH INSULT!" roared Taleth, walking out of the smoke a shimmering field of energy around him before he blasted Draconus again.

Draconus winced before saying, "Hey, you'd have to have known she'd end up ticking off the wrong person someday."

"She was 100 times the warrior you were, you little MISTAKE!" snapped Taleth, squeezing his hands...and squeezing Matt too till something in his chest cracked. "I should have eliminated you the first time we've met. I was a fool to think you were a potential aid," snapped Talelth.

Just then, there was an angry roar before Starflame slammed into Taleth. Taleth didn't even seemed phased landing on his feet before raising his hand and causing Starflame to freeze in place. "Go away, mongr...you," muttered Taleth, staring at Starflame before saying "Goodbye." blasting Starflame backwards.

"Right then, where were we?" said Taleth turning around. Draconus hadn't been able to get far, not with the injuries he had. "Is Mr. Lynch home? I have a hunch he's missing a crewmember," Taleth said cruelly.

"He's licking his wounds right now, can I take a message?" said Draconus sarcastically.

Taleth laughed and sent a blast into Draconus's head, causing him to scream before Matt took over again. "Now then...where were we?"

"You were gonna frag me for blow Seleni's head off...but then decided you'll give me a bucket of ice cream instead," said Matt.

"No, but we did find an escape pod when we came into orbit," said Taleth, Starflame suddenly flying at him. Taleth held out a hand and froze the dragoness in midair. "I'll deal with you after I've finished with him," he said before sending her flying almost as fast as she could on her own.

"Now then, we managed to find a crash site, off some little island. I'm afraid though that she tried to resist," said Taleth smoothly, letting it sink in to Matt.

"You're lying!" snapped Matt, "The marauders have her, they told me!"

Taleth laughed and said, "And you believed that collective group of bandits? You're even more slow-witted than I thought. Well...they have most of her." said Taleth, smiling coldly

Matt's eyes blazed as he yelled, "I'll tell you apart just for saying that lie!"

Taleth made a wave and Matt was shot back...through a several foot thick wall. Taleth said coldly, "A claw for a claw as they say on Avalar." before he looked at the starter gem. "Control, beam me to the Skidbladnir...and fire a volley into this position...full spread."

"Sir, is that not a little on the overkill side?" came the reply.

"Where Lynch is involved, there is such thing as overkill," said Taleth.

"Aye sir, we monitored his ship approaching your position, should we destroy it?" said the reply.

Taleth shook his head. "No...let them mourn," he said before he vanished.

Matt tried to get up, but his body was screaming with too much pain to move.

...

Kala managed to right herself in time to avoid bowling the other dragons aside. _"We've got to get back! He's going to kill him!"_ she wailed.

_"What, again?"_ asked Hookfang in a dazed tone. It seems a piece of blasted-off battlement had hit him on the head at one point.

_"YES, YOU TALKING HANDBAG!"_ roared Kala, turning to see Chloe, Techo and Wilson running up. _"I thought he was dead,"_ she said, looking at Wilson, confused.

_"Who was?"_ asked Toothless.

_"Never mind that now,"_ said Kala before taking off.

She was about to get height again when a dozen golden orbs shot down from the heavens, blowing sections of the castle apart. The shockwaves from the attack ended up sending her tumbling through the air to the forest beyond the castle.

Kala roared in horror and took off again straight away.

...

_"Come on, come on…"_ she muttered, surveying the burning rubble below. If it weren't for draconic senses, she probably would have never been able to pick up Matt's scent amidst all the smoke. But it was strong enough for her to focus on until she heard Matt's faint moans.

She landed and looked down to see Matt was out cold. _"No...please...no...nonononono!"_ she began as her own nanites displayed...nothing.

...

Toothless was looking down as he heard an agonized roar that turned into a human scream briefly. He could also feel a blaze of heat as the fires leapt up even higher for a few seconds.

After a minute he spotted Kala sobbing helplessly over a shape and he nudged Hiccup to point it out

"Could that be...we better get down there," said Hiccup.

...

The duo landed to see Kala/Starflame curled around a bloodied shape laying in the rubble, growling as she spotted them. "Easy there, Starflame," said Hiccup, "We're here to help." Starflame growled, getting up to see that Matt had been messed up badly, his left arm underneath a slab of granite. "We need to get him out of here," said Hiccup, "He needs all the help he can get."

"You're going nowhere you...Viking," said a voice.

Hiccup turned to see several of the duke's men. "What? How did you guys survive?" he asked.

"Luck...you and your little dragon friends caused this," snapped the injured guardsman, holding a sword and his men aiming crossbows.

"Hey, it wasn't our fault. It was the other guys who were also dragons and... Look, don't you think standing in a burning ruin is a bad idea?" said Hiccup.

"I don't care anymore. You and that damn baron killed the Duke. ARCHERS, TAKE AIM!" snapped the captain before there was a deafening 'brakka brakka brakka' and the guardsmen seemed to dance before falling down.

Hiccup stared as he saw several men walk through the flames in heavy futuristic armor. A few of them looked to see Matt before they turned their featureless faces on the others, one saying, "Get away from the captain."

"Hey, I was just trying to help," said Hiccup.

"Stand down," said Chloe's voice, her landing in human form.

"Ma'am, they're..."

"On our side, remember?" said Chloe, "Not to mention they're VIPs. Now why are you not trying to unbury my brother?"

"Yes' ma'am," said the trooper, running up to try and pull the rubble off Matt as Chloe turned to look at the kids.

"Surprise," she said a little sarcastically.

"So, have you always been able to change into a, you know..." started Astrid.

"A year or two now," said Chloe, watching as several troopers were trying to unpin Matt.

"Your brother too?" asked Hiccup.

"Actually, he was doing it before me, it's a long story," said Chloe.

A swearword was heard before someone yelled "Get Lao, this is bad."

Hiccup winced at that and said, "You don't think he'll..." He partially moved his pegleg, which was more than a little corroded from Seleni's acid.

Chloe noticed that. "Hey, you gonna be able to fly home with that as it is?" she asked.

"I'm not sure I can," said Hiccup as he tried to maneuver Toothless's tail flap, but he couldn't make it move very much. "I'm afraid he can only glide without his tailfins working properly, and not very far at that," said Hiccup.

"Crap, how are we gonna get you back? We can't use our ship," said Chloe.

"Your little longboat, I don't think so," said Snotlout before a whirring sound was heard above them. They looked to see something large slowly descending through the smoke.

"Nah...THAT'S our ride," said Chloe, pointing up.

The kids and dragons' jaws dropped as they saw it was some sort of armored metal ship floating above them. "Uh, why can't we use that?" asked Snotlout.

"Because you might accidentally atomize Poland," said Chloe simply.

"You can do that?" asked Astrid.

"We'd rather not to," said Chloe, "We'll meet up with our boat, sail you back."

"That might take too long," said Hiccup, "Matt needs a healer now."

"We got doctors," said Chloe as their ship landed.

"What's a doctor?" asked Astrid.

"More advanced and slightly-better paid than a healer," said Chloe.

...

Stoick listened grimly as Chloe told a 'modified' version of the events that has transpired. "So, after you've finished destroying their base and driving off the last of them, you all came back without problems?" asked Stoick.

"Well...for the most part. Matt was pretty hurt, but all that happened to the kids is that your son needs to put on a new leg which isn't too hard."

"Nope, I've already got several spares made just in case," said Gobber, "I could probably make something to replace Matt's arm if ya like."

"No...we've...his arm should be ok," said Chloe a little hesitantly.

"In my expert opinion, no man's arm can recover from the shredding you said it got," said Gobber.

"Trust us, you won't be able to tell the difference," said Chloe, turning to leave.

"Before you go, did you take care of those marauders?" asked Stoick.

Chloe paused and said, "Unfortunately, they already split from their leaders before we got there. But we'll deal with them if they turn up again." She then headed out.

...

Meanwhile, Kala was feeling extremely depressed. Thanks to Taleth, Matt will now think she's dead and he'll never think to look for her right in front of him. Of course, that's even if he survives the brutalizing that that he had received. As a result she was freaking out a bit.

_"__THIS ISN'T FAIR...NOT...FAIR!"_ she snapped, bashing her head against a wall with each word _"Why me? What colossal sin against the universe could I have committed that earned me this bad karma?!"_ yelled Kala.

_"__Calm down, you're gonna hurt...wow,"_ said Hookfang before noticing that Kala had actually bashed a small hole in the wall without injury.

_"Calm down?! You don't have any idea what it's like to be trapped in the wrong body!"_ snapped Kala.

_"Not exactly,"_ said Hookfang carefully, the dragons peering between the hole and the apparently intact Kala.

_"Kala, I'm sure Matt is bound to recognize who you really are at some point,"_ said Toothless.

_"He's a complete idiot who reads maps upside down,"_ said Kala dully.

_"Are you sure you're not confusing him with that one?"_ asked Stormfly, pointing at Morph who was staring at a portable DVD player that wasn't plugged in.

"When does the movie start again?" he asked.

_"Matt's is more accidental stupidity. Morph's is just persistent,"_ said Kala before doubletaking, _"WHO LET HIM LOOSE?"_

_"Where'd he get that thing he's looking at for that matter?"_ asked Stormfly.

_"You don't want to...oh no...I smell that old guy again, the one who smells like cabbage,"_ said Kala.

_"Oh, not him again,"_ moaned Hookfang.

_"And we probably don't want him to see him,"_ said Toothless, pointing at Morph who was tapping the screen.

"C'mon, I'm far away enough that I'm not disturbing anyone. Why can't I watch the movie?" he complained.

_"__How did he understand us?"_ said Stormfly.

Kala sighed and said, _"He's got the universal tongue. Don't ask him to show it. Sorry Morph,"_ before wincing and swallowing Morph in one gulp...just in time.

Mildew walked by at that. "Dirty dragons," he muttered before pausing and looking at the female Night Fury. She didn't seem to be quite well. Her scales had a faint green tinge and her cheeks kept bulging. "Weird." he muttered, walking off and tripping over a box on the ground.

Kala looked down at the box that Mildew had tripped over and saw it was the DVD case. The lettering may have been Chinese, but the picture of Hiccup riding Toothless on the cover made her feel a bit uneasy. As it was she yelped _"BLAST IT!"_

The dragons looked confused so Kala decided to get herself. However, as she was about to launch a fireball, something set it off inside of her and it caused her to briefly inflate and spit out smoke instead.

Mildew looked confused before walking out. It was just in time as Kala was unable to hold on anymore and spat Morph out, smashing the box. "Aw man, now I can't watch my movie," moaned Morph, "And I wasn't near any of the crew too."

_"No watching movies that can break time and space!"_ snapped Kala.

Morph stared at Kala before saying, "I think you're mad at me for some reason."

_"It's me, tell Matt of I will find a way to make you SUFFER!"_ snapped Kala.

Morph stared blankly before saying, "You're a cute dragon."

_"Just tell him or I'll tell him exactly WHO took a bite out of his Judge Dredd comic,"_ growled Kala.

Morph shrugged before knocking on the door and calling, "Matt, are you up yet?"

Kala facepawed and said, _"He's not in there, he's back at the ship. Did you leave your brain on cruise again?"_

Morph's eyes slowly crossed, the dragons leaning in before he suddenly said calmly, "I like pie."

Kala turned to the others and said dully, _"Behold, the proof both for and against intelligent life on other planets."_ Morph nodded, just as Chloe came in, Kala hissing, _"Tell her instead."_

Morph blinked before saying, "Starflame says her name is Starflame."

Kala stared in horror before faceplanting with a groan, _"I hate you, Morph."_

"Yes, that's nice..." said Chloe before realizing something was amiss. "What are you doing out of uniform?!" she snapped.

"The holocloak was getting hot so I took it off," said Morph.

"Get it BACK ON!"" screamed Chloe.

"But I'm still too hot," complained Morph before Kala decided to shorten the conversation (if it could be called that) by blasting Morph point-blank and rendering him a nearly unrecognizable charred mass that could easily be mistaken for a giant burnt marshmallow. "I smell like smores," said Morph, happily.

Chloe sighed and said, "Don't change a muscle until we get back in the ship and put you under ice."

"Ok," said Morph happily, looking at Kala after Chloe had left and saying, "I told her, was that ok?" before he was blasted into the bay.

Kala sighed and said, _"Ok, that's taken some of the tension off, but now I have a headache...and heartburn."_

_"Erm...fish?"_ asked Hookfang nervously.

...

Matt did not feel good. He was going to live, but there was quite a bit of damage that will keep him bedridden for at least three days. Not to mention there was little of his left arm left to salvage. He looked over with a groan and reached up to scratch an itch...only to feel cold metal on his chin.

"Yeah...it sucks I know," said Techo's voice.

Matt looked up at Techo and said, "Techo, I'm not sure I've ever asked, but how did it happen to you?"

"Accident during basic training, wouldn't you believe," said Techo, sounding amused.

"To you? I find that pretty hard to swallow," said Matt.

"I was a rookie. Not everyone gets super awesome dragon powers first week on the job," said Techo with a chuckle.

"Super awesome dragon powers didn't save me from this," said Matt, moving his arm.

"Course not, military and mercs have dangerous lives. It happens to almost anyone," said Techo gloomily.

"Yeah, it's just that I've been able to avoid it so long, I was thinking it wouldn't happen to me," said Matt.

Techo shrugged. "Hey, nobody gives a toss. Alot of the guys here'll be jealous...buuut that's not what's got you down, is it?" he said.

Matt sighed and said, "No, Taleth had more to say than how he was going to finish me. He said he found Kala before the marauders did...and finished her."

"And you believed the jumped-up smeghead?" said Techo, surprised

"I don't want to, but there isn't much proof that Kala's alive," said Matt.

"Bullpocky!" snapped a voice and the two turned to NegaMorph walking in.

"Not in the mood, NegaMorph. Explain," said Matt, coldly.

"Remember when Kala had that near-literal meltdown before we got here?" asked NegaMorph.

"The one where she roasted that boarding team?" said Matt

"Yep, at the same time, I got a massive case of heartburn for no apparent reason," said NegaMorph, "And I'm not the type to believe in mere coincidences."

"So...where is she?" said Matt, his eyes narrowing.

"No idea," said NegaMorph, "All I know is that she's definitely alive, but not sure if she's well. Because I got the same surge of fiery agony after Taleth had nearly blasted you to kingdom come."

"Then you're in charge of finding her...FIND HER!" snapped Matt.

"I'll try my best. But wherever those marauders have stashed her, it's very well-hidden," said NegaMorph.

"Then you have your work cut out, don't you?" said Matt, laying back to stare at the ceiling.

"Yes I do," said NegaMorph, "Try to recover quickly. If anyone's supposed to rescue her, it's you."'

"I plan to," said Matt, in a dark tone.

* * *

Here's another chapter. I would have posted it last week, but I had some trouble with a faulty modem. Still, I think it built up plenty of tension for this chapter. And this chapter is definitely a turning point in the story. Not only do the kids know the gang's secret now, but there's the death of an old enemy, the return of an old friend, and the permanent injury that Matt suffers. And it has not been easy for anyone, let alone Kala. In case you were wondering, the woman that Hiccup and Toothless heard screaming was Kala, her grief causing her to briefly return back to her normal form.

Things are definitely going to be different now. We'll be seeing more of the gang without their facade and we'll be doing some more traveling since the North Star is able to fly again, though it's not spaceworthy. Keep an eye out for next week's chapter where we'll dip into another region's mythology and please review.


	7. The Isles of the Enchantress

**Voyagers Saga**

**Broken Nest**

**Chapter 7: The Isles of the Enchantress**

One of the plusses of no longer needing to keep up appearances meant that Chloe could finally stretch her wings a little and was doing so, tagging along on the Dragon Academy's flying lesson...and not as a rider. It was actually nice to have an open conversation without keeping secrets. Although the constant questions was starting to get a little annoying.

"Look, we weren't always like this...and it wasn't magic that did it," she snapped, answering the same 'was it magic/a curse?' question for the 5th time, "It was a run in with technology, weird technology."

"But what kind of technology could have done it?" asked Hiccup.

"Really advanced technology that you can't possibly understand," snapped Chloe. Chloe stopped at that, peering over at Hiccup who looked like he was sweating. "You feeling ok? You look grim," she asked.

"It's just the heat, I'll be fine," said Hiccup.

"It's 5 below up here. It's anything but hot," said Chloe

"Maybe...I should rest...just a bit..." said Hiccup before slumping over, his leg becoming disengaged from the stirrup.

Chloe yelped at that, barrelrolling to grab Toothless and hold him upright. "Ok, lesson's over," she said urgently, peering around to see an out of the way clearing. She spotted a bare if snowy mountain top and started gliding down towards it. The others landed not long after she did, Chloe shifting back to human and helping Hiccup down. "Bloody hell, he's burning up. One of you go get some help," she said.

"I'll get help," said Astrid, making Stormfly take off. Chloe tried to keep Hiccup's temperature down by putting some snow on his forehead.

'Scanning...unidentified pathogen detected,' chimed her nanites calmly, Chloe peering down to see several green lines running up from the false leg.

"Oh man," she muttered, hearing flapping coming. She turned to the others and said, "I need some fresh clean water."

"Uh, where from?" asked Tuffnut.

"From here would be acceptable," said Chloe. The twins gave her a blank look. Chloe sighed and said, "Snow is clean water, assuming someone hasn't already walked through it. Just melt a patch."

Toothless immediately spat a blast of flame into the snow, Chloe pulling a bottle from under her clothing and shoving it into the stream of melted snow before saying "Hiccup, you need to drink some of this."

"Tha thath thith thooth," muttered Hiccup. Chloe thought he was mostly babbling until she noticed Hiccup's tongue had swollen a lot.

"This is bad..." muttered Chloe, taking a quick scan and saying into her comm, "Lao, I'm sending you a scan. Get a disguise and get to Berk yesterday," she said.

"Oh, I know what to do about his tongue," said Snotlout, "Just put it in Toothless's spit."

Chloe stared for a second before saying "That's nuts."

"Actually, Hiccup has noted that Night Fury saliva has some healing properties, particularly with swellings," said Fishlegs.

"Fine...urgh...Toothless, you do it," Chloe said, gulping weakly.

"Here, you'll need this bowl," said Fishlegs, tossing Chloe a bowl.

She caught and asked, "Do you always carry one around?"

"Sometimes, if it's before lunchtime," said Fishlegs.

Chloe winced as Toothless quite literally gobbed into the bowl before she said weakly "Hiccup...time to wince and spit...don't worry if you taste fish..."

Toothless just burbled unintelligibly, evidentially not fully conscious...which was probably for the best. After a minute, Hiccup weakly spat out the dragon spit. "Urgh...fish..." he managed faintly.

Chloe grimaced and said, "Try not to think about it too much. Just try to sleep, but if you see a long dark tunnel, stay away from the light." Hiccup nodded weakly before Chloe snapped "How long does it take to get help?"

"She ought to back in another five minutes," said Fishlegs.

"I hope so, we need to get him somewhere warm. Hold on," said Chloe angrily, before seeing a tree and sending a lightning bolt into it, setting it on fire.

"Didn't you want him cold?" asked Snotlout.

"Not that cold," snapped Chloe.

...

As it was, the worsening weather meant it was 15 minutes before Astrid returned with help to find the gang clustered around the smoldering tree. "Lightning bolt out of nowhere, who would have thought it?" said Chloe innocently.

"I don't care what the dragons do here, where's my son?" demanded Stoick.

"He just passed out according to Snotlout. I was just...erm...hunting when I saw Toothless glide in," Chloe said innocently.

Fortunately, Stoick was too concerned about his son to care about Chloe's flimsy story. He looked at his sweating and shivering face and asked, "What kind of fever is this?"

"Never seen it before. Luckily our clan's doctor is coming with the next boat. My brother's up and he is going to see that my brother stays upright," said Chloe.

"Doctor?" asked Stoick.

"It's a fancy word for 'healer'," said Chloe, "Doctor Lao was brought into the clan by us during our travels. If anyone can get your son upright, he can."

...

Meanwhile, Matt was keeping an eye on the water as they approached the docks. He wasn't in the mood for Steampipe right now, especially since he had to keep his mostly metal arm under a large glove.

"Stay calm, boss. These cybernetics are waterproof," said Techo, patting him on the back.

"What kind of cold coulda spooked Chloe so much as to call in Lao?" said Matt

"Doesn't sound like the garden variety," said Techo.

Chloe was already on the dock waiting as the ship pulled up, Matt and the others walking down the plank. "Ok, where is he?" said Lao, in a grouchy mood due to the ancient Chinese outfit he was being forced to wear.

"I'm pretty sure he's in the house with the dragons near it," said Techo.

"Well I have a limited field of vision because the smegging bamboo dustbin lid on my head," snapped Lao.

"Could be worse." said Chloe.

"How so?" said Lao darkly, casing Chloe to clam up as they approached Hiccup's house, Stoick standing grimly outside.

"Well, at least you only have to deal with only one protective parent," muttered Matt.

Lao remembered the greeting bow to Stoick just in time before saying "In there?"

"Aye," said Stoick, "And you better have something to help him."

"I will do my best, but we will need to be alone. My ways are a secret as you clearly understand," said Lao, looking over at where several dragons were watching.

Stoick's eyes narrowed and said, "If my son suffers worse..."

"I wouldn't have brought him here if I knew he couldn't help," said Matt.

Stoick glared before letting the trio in. As soon as the door was closed, Lao pulled his coat off to reveal several pieces of medical equipment, both from the North Star and the ice base's preserved med-bay before heading up the stairs to where Hiccup was in bed, Toothless curled up watching. "Ok, Mister Haddock. I am Dr. Lao...from the captain's force. Can you hear me?" he said to Hiccup while putting a medical scanner together.

Hiccup made some kind of noise, but it didn't sound very intelligible. "He's probably more than a little delirious right now," said Chloe.

"Hmm...do we know if he came into contact with splitters at any point?" asked Lao, taking a few scans and reading the readout.

"Come to think of it, I think one of the marauders had him by the throat and Talia had to shoot him," said Matt.

"Smeg, splitter blood's toxic. You think they evolved the ability to combust?" snapped Lao.

"I thought they're disintegrating looked a bit too...video game-esque," said Chloe.

"Yes, the Splitter Empire added it after a drop of blood in a colony water supply wiped out 76% of their slave workforce, one good thing the empire did," said Lao before saying "We need to get him to headquarters. I cannot do anything with this equipment except slow the effects down."

"Good luck trying to convince his dad that," said Matt.

"Actually, as captain, that's your job," said Lao.

"Smeg," muttered Matt.

...

"Out of the question," said Stoick sternly.

"The doctor couldn't bring everything with him. Most of his medicine is very perishable," said Matt, desperately.

"I'm not leaving my son's life in a complete stranger's hands," snapped Stoick.

"He has blood fever: an illness rare but not unheard of in your lands," said Lao in a 'talking to difficult patients' voice as he walked out, "With what I have, I can slow it down. But if the ingredients used in the remedy mean it would be useless by the time we transported it here. He has to come with us...or he will be dead in a week."

Stoick hesitated and Matt said, "I wouldn't be putting your son's life on the line if I wasn't certain we'd have a cure for him. I give you my word that your son will return good as new. Well, we can't give him a new leg, but he will be cured." Stoick glared before nodding, Matt able to get a good idea that there still wasn't much trust. "How about someone comes then? To make sure nothing happens?" he suggested

"I suppose I can agree to that," said Stoick, "His friends are as tight-knit a group as you can find. But I warn you, if any of them don't return, you better not return either."

"If they don't return, none of us did," said Matt before nodding to Lao.

...

While it would have been much faster to have just flown the dragons, Stoick insisted that Hiccup be transported by boat as there was less likely a chance he would slip off and fall into the sea.

Astrid wandered over to Matt. "Stoick's going to notice your...stuff," she warned quietly.

Matt grinned and said, "We've got a cover in place." as the fog cleared to reveal a cliff with a wooden pulley lift going up and a couple of Matt's men in Viking disguises on guard

Stoick lifted an eyebrow and asked, "What's this?"

"Little something my mec...blacksmith came up with to get up the cliff easy. Safe as riding a dragon," said Matt, cheerfully, hopping off the boat as it came up to the coast and yelling something in Britannia to the guards.

Stoick turned to the kids and said, "I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but look after Hiccup. I don't want anything bad to happen to him."

"Don't worry. He'll be fine," said Astrid, nodding to where Toothless was glaring at the guards as they helped Hiccup, who was walking again thanks to Lao's stopgap 'remedies' off the boat.

"Yep, if anything did happen to Hiccup, you wouldn't even get the chance to hack up Lynch," said Snotlout, "Toothless will beat you to it."

Matt came back up at that. "Ok, we're all set here," he said calmly, nodding over to where the lift was slowly going up...slowly as Toothless had gotten on too despite complaints

...

A little later, the rest of the dragon riders were on top of the cliff and was looking around the series of tents Matt's crew had set up. "You know, I kinda expected more. What with you guys being from another world and all," said Snotlout.

"Shh..." said Matt, watching as Stoick's ship sailed into the fog before finally saying "Ok, boys. Show's over."

Lao immediately pulled the hat off and snapped, "Open the cargo lift and let's get Mr. Haddock to the medibay." On cue a section of the ice split down the middle and whirred away, causing the dragons and kids to back off as a much larger metal lift came up from it.

"But...how..." stuttered Astrid.

"Well, we can't let just anyone know we're aliens, can we?" said Matt.

"Ok, let's get him down," called Lao, two troopers helping Hiccup over to the lift.

"He'll be fine," said Matt.

...

"He's not fine," said Lao to Matt and Chloe, "It's definitely splitter DNA contamination. Luckily the HLF forces here kept more accurate records. The NSC's never had a case. I only guessed what it was because of my interest in medical history."

"And by the sound of it, you don't have a ready-made cure on hand," said Chloe.

"No, we have most of the ingredients at the base in storage, but there is indeed a perishable element. A rare plant extract. All the supplies here are useless," said Lao.

"What kind of plant?" asked Matt.

"A tropical one, probably from the Mediterranean area. High magi index so that limits the best places. It'll be hard to find," said Lao gloomily.

"How much time does Hiccup have?" asked Matt.

"He's in stage two. According to history records, if he reaches stage 3, he'll need genetic therapy. He'll reach stage 3 in 48 hours by my estimate," said Lao sadly.

"Then we better get searching," said Matt, "I've been wanting to travel south anyways. It's kinda nippy up here."

"Chip already got a vague hit," said Lao, nodding.

...

"What?" snapped Astrid, Matt standing his ground despite the axe Astrid was now holding.

"I said we need the flower from somewhere in the Med. You could get a tan," he said, his smartarse' side kicking in due to misguided self-defense.

"How are we supposed to get that far down south? It took take weeks?" snapped Astrid.

"We have a flying starship," Matt reminded.

"Is it fast enough?" asked Astrid warily.

"You doubt my pride and joy? We could go round the world in minutes from orbit," said Matt, sounding insulted.

"But, wouldn't Stoick notice if we all disappeared at once?" asked Astrid, "I mean, he's gonna be wondering where Hiccup is."

"I actually have a solution to that," said Contrinus, walking forward while dragging a pet carrier behind, "Something I've been working on in my spare time."

"Ah, I forgot to mention. Our 'mascots' are as intelligent as we are...and can talk...except Morph. You'll meet him later. He's dumb but can also talk," said Matt as Astrid jumped back.

Contrinus opened up the pet carrier and reached inside, "It's a simple idea, really. Just working with the local- OUCH!" she yelped before pulling herself out, a Terrible Terror latched onto her wing with its mouth. However, Matt could see the Terrible Terror was wearing a small harness with a tube attached.

"What the hell is that?" Matt said, peering.

"It's just the carrying compartment," said Contrinus as she tried to get her wing free, "For holding letters and messages."

"You made a carrier pigeon?" asked Matt before the Terror began attacking him at the insult.

"Carrier dragon," said Contrinus, "They're very specific about the title."

"NOT THE FAAACE!" screamed Matt before the dragon jumped off him

"Well, I'm certain these little guys are more than smart enough to find their way home when we give them a letter to deliver, right?" asked Contrinus, patting the dragon on the head.

"Seems like a plan," said Matt, massaging his nose.

"That's not a bad idea," said Astrid, "You have trained these guys, right?"

"Well, I'm pretty I at least have their homing instinct homed," said Contrinus.

"I can see so many ways this could backfire," muttered Matt.

...

Sometime later, the North Star 2 was flying towards the more temperate half of Europe at full speed. However, there was a few problems along the way, mainly the way the kids were adapting to the intense speed.

"Easy...just stop looking out the damn porthole," said NegaMorph, still wearing his holocloak by order of Matt. The girls didn't need any more shocks.

"I think I've seen as much as I need to," said Fishlegs, who was a rather pale shade of green.

"Easy...hold on," said NegaMorph, before pulling a bucket out of his storage pocket dimension and passing it over.

"All hands. We are 20 minutes from target LZ. Squads report to briefing room," said an automated announcement.

"Speedy, isn't she?" said NegaMorph with a grin before looking over at the dragons occupying the cargo hold, including Matt's dragon who had literally fought her way aboard before takeoff. While the dragons were probably better at coping at the high speeds than the kids, they probably wouldn't welcome the smell of rotten fish right now. Besides, they seemed to be keeping their minds off of it by talking about whatever it is dragons talk about.

...

_"Oh please. You all fly and you're getting Mach sickness?"_ Kala said, laughing her head off.

_"I've never gone this fast before,"_ moaned Stormfly.

_"I have,"_ said Kala happily before the lights above them flickered. The dragons looked up at the flickering lights, which fascinated them enough to take their minds off the high-speed flight. For Toothless, Stormfly, and Hookfang, that was a welcome relief. For Kala, not so much. _"Urgh...I have...karma...where's NegaMorph and his bucket?"_ Kala groaned.

NegaMorph walked over and asked, "Hey, Starflame, you hungry, girl?" Kala glared before grabbing Nega and shaking him till his fedora fell out of the cloak and she threw up into it...dissolving it

NegaMorph glared before materializing another fedora. "You're so lucky I can make more of those," he said crossly. Kala just glared and spat a plasma burst into Nega's mouth. NegaMorph staggered a bit as he regenerated. "Oh, right in the pie hole. Now nothing's going to taste right all day," he snapped.

At that point the lights went out...

...

"Chip? What the hell's going on?" snapped Matt as the ship went into a nosedive.

"Er, we're having some technical difficulties," said Chip, though his voice was coming through with lots of static.

"HURRY UP!" snapped Matt before every screen suddenly displayed the NSC national symbol and a familiar voice said "All systems restored to peak efficiency...assuming autopilot...good morning sir."

Matt paused in shock. "WARDEN? I thought you were...deleted," he said astonished.

"No, though you could have downloaded me, you annoying person. You're in download range of the command section, sir. Approaching at Mach 2. I presume there is a reason as it clearly wasn't for me," said WARDEN a little bitterly.

"Uh, we've been a bit preoccupied with the salvaging operation to find all of the missing pieces," said Matt.

"I'm not even going to grace that with an answer...why is there several timeline specifics on board?" said WARDEN, icily.

"Well, that's a long story, but the main reason is because one of them has had contact with splitter blood, not Xander's by the way, and we need to get something to treat him before he hits stage 3," said Matt.

"Blood fever? That's eradicated," said Warden before a whirring camera indicated he was looking closely, "We need blackfire roots...scanning...too much magi. I have pinpointed it to an archipelago on the area."

"Good, which country is it closest to, out of curiosity?" asked Matt.

"A small cluster of islands that, according to temporal scans, is due to be destroyed in 72 hours," said WARDEN.

"Then we better get some roots before that," said Matt.

"I suggest sending teams to each of the islands. If we use a team by team search then we will miss the deadline by days," said WARDEN.

"Good, let's do that," said Matt, "And do we have any information about the islands? I'd rather not send my team to this era's version of Krakatoa."

"Negative...no records exist," said WARDEN.

"A little unsettling, but we're going in anyways," said Matt.

...

The kids looked out at the beach where the North Star 2's final landing had taken place. "Jungles; big, green and full of giant spiders," said Matt as way of introduction.

Chloe punched Matt in the arm and said, "Don't make that kind of joke."

"But it has got giant spiders," moaned Matt, pointing.

Chloe looked to see Matt was pointing at a tarantula that was crawling up a tree. Chloe froze before the tarantula fell down and landed on her face...

...

The scream was pretty impressive. It was certainly loudly enough to be heard across the island.

Matt and Astrid peered up before Matt said weakly "Chloe doesn't like spiders." pointing to where an electrocuted tarantula was weaving across the sand, a faint 'bleh' heard.

"I'm surprised she didn't completely roast it," said Astrid.

"She sometimes does that too," said Matt weakly.

"So I should probably try to talk the twins out of trying a fake spider's prank on her," said Astrid.

"Yeah..." said Matt weakly.

...

Stormfly peered cautiously around the jungle. _"It's just a jungle,"_ said Kala, sniffing around.

_"There could be dangerous predators,"_ said Stormfly.

_"So? We're dragons. What could possibly prey on us?"_ asked Kala.

_"Bigger dragons,"_ said Stormfly promptly.

Kala paused and said, _"Well, there's that. But I'm pretty sure we would have noticed in a bigger dragon lives here."_

_"Changewings,"_ said Stormfly, peering around distrustfully, as Matt's men walked through the knee high grass.

Kala sniffed the air and said, _"Wouldn't we have smelled them?"_

_"I can't even tell what the normal smells are around here,"_ said Hookfang, peering around.

_"It could just be a simple island. Just one with a vastly different forest than you ever been in,"_ said Kala.

_"Urgh...give me Berk any day,"_ said Hookfang bitterly.

...

"All teams. Report in. We're on a damn deadline here," said Matt into his comm.

"Team one here...sweep of our island 95% complete...nothing even close to the root...just a volcano and the wreckage from the Bladestorm. We can switch to tech recovery on your go ahead sir."

"Team two here. We got jack shit...but there is alot of shipwrecks and abandoned vessels here...and now just local. We found an old splitter empire cutter...no sign of the crew."

"Team three here...we got signs of camps here...long deserted. No sign of the root."

"Team four. We're following a possible hit...also found remains of ruins...and we've found signs of weapon fire. It's definitely not recent."

"Teams one through three can start collecting anything of use, especially from the Bladestorm," said Matt, "But all of these wrecks didn't just happen to show up here out of coincidence. Nor do I believe the crew just disappeared for no reason. Start looking for anything that could have made them go poof and try not to go poof yourselves." He focused on team four and asked, "What kind of ruins did you find? Ancient ruins or just plain ancient ruins?"

"Part of the ruins matches that of Asgardian tech from verse M-24/b. Weapons damage looks like a mix of Dark One and Atlantean," said the voice of Team four's leader, "Looks like a perimeter. I can see recent traffic in the area and there are signs of life further inside the complex."

"Sentient life?" asked Matt, "Because I'd rather not walk right into a viper's pit."

"Definitely, sir. We found a patch where the roots been harvested sir. Emissions go straight to the inhabited zone."

"I would advise caution, but I should also mention that our patient is within an hour of reaching stage 3," said WARDEN.

That was the tiebreaker for Matt. "I don't care if we arrived on Merlin's private island getaway!" he snapped, "We're getting that root in time if we have to kick through 20 feet of thief's butt!"

...

The strange creature, looking like a fusion of panther and human, peered at the humans below before jumping down and silently running through the ruins towards his mistress's palace. "My lady. The newcomers head this way. They have void technology," he said after he had scrambled in, bowing.

"At long last," said a woman's voice, "I was starting to think this day will never come."

"Shall I assemble the warriors and hunt them down?" asked the panther man.

"No, flies are easier to catch with honey than vinegar," said the woman's voice, "Prepare the hall. Our guests deserve a proper welcome."

The panther man breathed a sigh of relief. The last time they had attempted to fight void walkers, they had almost been eradicated.

...

"Squad 1, move up," said Matt, waving the teams forward, them all clustered around the cover of a 'MAKO' assault carrier. The carrier itself was holding Hiccup, the unanimous agreement being that it was faster to mix the final ingredient onsite.

"Matt, as urgently as we need that root, don't you think the MAKO's overkill?" asked Chloe.

"No, 'overkill' would be having all the dragons here plus us as dragons," said Matt, "I think I'm toning it down for once." On cue, Chloe pointed back to where Toothless's head peered out from a ruin, glaring straight ahead.

"Oh great," muttered Matt before the MAKO pilot said "Target on thermal...coming out of the main building...human but I'm getting heavy magi signals from it."

"I was kidding about Merlin, but I doubt we'll get anyone so friendly," muttered Matt before reaching for his ion blade.

"Greetings, walkers of the void. What brings you to my abode?" called a female voice.

"Blackfire roots and we don't have time to haggle," called Matt.

"Blackfire roots?" said the figure, walking into the spotlights of the MAKO, revealing a Greek woman wearing what would be alluring clothing for the time period.

"Uh, yeah," said Matt, a little put off, "We've got a friend who's really sick and he needs them. And since all the roots here have been picked, I assume you're the one who did it."

"Of course, it's dangerous," said the woman.

"Well, dangerous to people who don't know how to use it properly, but we really, really need it," said Matt.

"Hmm...let me see your friend. Maybe I can cure him? I know many...remedies," said the woman.

"Not so fast, what's your name?" asked Chloe.

The woman smiled and said, "It's Circe."

Matt couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable as it made him recall his 'acquaintance' who indirectly caused Chris's lycanthropy, but they probably only share a name, right? "Ok, this way," said Matt coldly before Chris said "Hey...more guys." pointing to where several figures in cloaks were holding bows.

"My guards," explained Circe, "Sometimes unwelcome visitors arrive and they have to deal with them quickly."

"Well...keep whatever they are in line and there will be no trouble," said Matt, banging the hatch, making it open to show two armed combat medics and Hiccup, out cold. Lao was also there.

Circe took one look at him and said, "Poison, most definitely, probably was introduced to something not from this world, wasn't he?"

"We call it blood fever. I'm guessing we're not the only 'out of towners'. You seem fine with the tech," said Matt before Lao said gloomily "She has the root? Doesn't matter anymore."

"What? I thought you said we had time," said Matt.

"It's grown immune to the suppressants," said Lao, Matt noticing that Circe seemed briefly...happy?

"Hmm...I may have something that can help," Circle said.

Lao gave her a dubious look and said, "If you have a healing spring that can remove his illness, I'd have to see that for myself."

"It's not a spring. I have collected many...artifacts over my years here. I know of one that will help. Bring him," said Circe, the troopers looking to Matt who shrugged. "Go with it," he said.

Lao leaned closed to Matt and muttered, "I don't trust her. Something about her doesn't belong here."

"I know. Nobody put their guard down," replied Matt as the medics helped Hiccup up, the boy's skin covered in black splodges...genetic breakdown.

As the group walked in, Matt observed the almost-unrealistically perfect Greek architecture inside, with broad columns and various frescos. "As I said, welcome...to my island," said Circle before the ground shook for a second, a rumble in the distance. Circe paused and said, "Curious, the volcano shouldn't be close to erupting for 10 more years."

"That might be us. Our ship was attacked by an orbital defense machine," said Chris.

Circe stopped at that. That little piece of cooperation between the Allfather and the Atlantean void walkers had kept her in this world far too long...and now these idiots had destroyed it. Was it her birthday? It might have been; she's lost track of how long she's been trapped on this island. "Well...let's get him inside. There are...creatures in the forest you will not want to meet that prefer the night," said Circe.

Chloe glanced at the forest before shuddering and saying, "I can believe that."

...

Hiccup's friends landed in the courtyard of Circe's villa as soon as the troopers with them had relayed the message, including the bad news. As they arrived, Circe had gotten her minions to drag out what looked like a gold chest. "The Mandýa Ki̱demóno̱n," said Circe, pulling out an ebony scaled cloak.

"Cool cloak," said Snotlout, "Can I try it on after Hiccup?"

"NO!" snapped Circe, causing everyone to jump before she said "It is meant for healing, not humans who prance like peacocks."

"I do not prance like a peacock," protested Snotlout before turning to the others and asking, "What's a peacock?"

"It is a bird whose males are known more for their flair then their brains," said Circe with a smirk, even Hookfang grinning at that.

"That sounds like him," said Astrid.

Circe carefully put the cloak around Hiccup's neck at that, fastening it with a clasp that reminded Matt of a Chinese dragon. The cloak glowed for a second before Circe said, "Guards, take him to a suite. He will need time to rest. His dragon companion should be able to fit into the northern room, it has a large enough balcony."

"How long will it take him to recover?" asked Astrid.

"A day at most, less if he is stronger," said Circe, noticing Matt's glare as her guards lifted the unconscious Hiccup up.

Chloe was also distrustful, muttering to Talia, "Tell WARDEN and Chip to run a search on this lady."

"And see if the scanners can tell us exactly what these 'guards' are," muttered Matt, "I'm pretty sure they're not a natural species." The trooper nodded before walking off. "Meanwhile, we might as well show a little trust. I doubt she'd have cured Hiccup if she wanted to off us," said Matt.

Then Circe said, "Now then, I'm sure you're all hungry after your long trip. Allow me to provide you with a feast as a token of my generosity."

"Now we're talking," said Snotlout.

...

Matt looked at the spread in front of him before looking at their benefactor. "So...Circe. How long have you been on this rock?" he asked, shaking his head as his hand stopped an inch from the food.

"Many, many years," said Circe, "I have had some visitors that were pleasant enough to be entertained, but it has been a long, long time since I've been able to talk with more...enlightened guests."

"For someone who's been living here so long, you look pretty well," commented Chloe, "I'd say you weren't that much older than me."

"The wonders of my work have extended my life...a...what's the human word? A perk?" said Circe with a smirk, noticing that Chloe seemed to also have trouble gripping the food, some of their men also taking notice and not eating. "Is there something wrong with my meal?" she asked, "I would have expected you to have been quite hungry."

"I'm...I'm not that hungry," said Matt, as the Atlantean symbols appeared in his vision like they had a few weeks ago, a wire grid appearing on his food before what looked like a chemical analysis began. "Yeah, I think I need some fresh air," he said, getting up

Circe looked disappointed and said, "Don't stay outside too long. The beasts of the jungle get bolder after dark."

Matt walked out into the courtyard and took a few deep breaths until the HUD vanished...and a call came in. Chip's voice said, "Matt, you haven't had any of the food here yet, have you?"

"No. Only a few of us. I think that Atlantean update to my nanotech's removed the safeguards. I couldn't even grab it, think Chloe took a drink though," said Matt.

"Well, that's probably for the best. I found references to Circe, but I'm not entirely certain if they apply to this one. Have you ever read the Odyssey?" asked Chip.

"Long ago, yeah," said Matt.

"Do you recall the part where Odysseus had to deal with an enchantress who lives on an island of beasts?" asked Chip.

"Yes? What's this got to do with Circe?" said Matt, though he was already getting an idea why it was.

"Well, this enchantress had a pretty low view of men and commonly transformed any male visitors to her island into a beast that reflects his nature, most commonly pigs," said Chip, "And can you guess what this enchantress's name was?"

"Circe...I don't get it. She's helping Hiccup and she offered it," said Matt into his comm.

"Well, this Circe may not be like the mythological Circe," said Chip, "She might share a name and similar home, but that doesn't make them exactly alike."

"Ok, I did get a weird readout from my nanites...more Atlantean crap. Gonna beam it to you. Let's see if this new wrist comp cuts it," said Matt, poking the Atlantean wristcomp he had nicked from Taleth's men, a light sourced hologram keyboard appearing and allowing Matt to send the download.

Chip was able to detect the new hardware Matt was using. "Fancy new watch," Chip commented, "But haven't I seen that model being used by the Shar-Virk?"

"It was being used. I nicked it off their new girl," said Matt smugly.

"Your banshee fangirl?" asked Chip.

"Yeah...and don't call her that. Look, what is that thing? It panicked my nanites enough that they stopped me even touching it," said Matt sternly.

"Patience, it takes time for analysis," said Chip.

"You have a 4 digit IQ, this should be a cakewalk," snapped Matt before lowering his voice again as he heard scrabbling in the shadows. "I'll call you back," said Matt before hanging up.

With that, Matt unclasped his ion blade and shifted his eyes to draconic form and was able to pick out several shadows helping each other over the villa's wall. "Hello," he muttered, stepping into the shadows himself.

There was some growling and Matt wasn't entirely sure what kind of animal it was like. He winced again at, once more the HUD appeared. "Scanning...sentients detected," the AI chimed calmly.

"Um, whoever you are, I think we have a meaningful conversation...assuming you can talk," said Matt. Several whisperings were heard before an arrow shot out and shattered next to Matt's head. Matt glared and said, "Now that was just plain uncivil."

Several voices could be heard whispering in a mix of dialects, including a splitter accent, if Matt wasn't mistaken. "You won't stop us," said a young sounding voice suddenly in NSC standard, though a little archaic.

"Stop you from what?" asked Matt.

"We're gonna kill the witch," said another voice, equally as young.

Matt rolled his eyes and slowly sneaked along the shadows towards where his nanites highlighted the now visible shapes, teenagers from the size though their build was not recognizable. He readied a small plasma pulse in his hand. Not enough to cause damage, but enough to stun. "You seem a bit young for an assault team. This isn't Mobius," he said, cheerfully as he headed closer.

There was angrier growling. "We are in the right. You will not stand in our way!" snarled the first voice.

"Really? You look like a bunch of kids...and yes I can see you," said Matt, grinning, his teeth sharpening to draconic ones. The group jumped at that, completely taken by surprise. Matt grinned even wider. "That's right kiddies. I'm a professional and you aren't...and I seee yoooou…" he taunted, now just round the corner from them.

There was a yelp of fright before a spear was suddenly thrown at Matt. Matt grabbed it, his hand glowing and causing the spearhead to evaporate. "Now that's just naughty," said Matt, throwing the plasma burst at the sky and illuminating the trio.

He immediately noticed, as he suspected, that they weren't human. There was one who had a passing resemblance to a splitter, though the head was too serpentine and there was too much tail and not enough leg. One looked like a humanoid kangaroo, obviously female. The third was a lion man, though his mane was not fully grown, showing his immaturity.

He could also see the fear and anger in their stances. "Ok, whose first?" he said.

The splitter snake hissed before opening his mouth and extending two fangs. Matt had expected him to lunge, but he instead shot out twin streams of venoms from his fangs. Matt immediately held up his hand and a plasma shield incinerated the venom. "Strike one," he said, sending a stunner pulse into snake guy's chest.

The kangaroo girl ran forward and started laying a barrage of kickboxing moves on Matt. Matt staggered back before a kick sent him flying. "That deals with..." began the kangaroo girl before a tesla blast stunned her.

"Strike two," said Matt, now in his hybrid form and looking annoyed.

The lion man roared before pulling out a sword. Matt raised an eyebrow and said, "Really? You brought a sword to a gun fight?"

"What's a gun?" said the lion man before Matt raised his tesla stunner and electrocuted him.

"Strike three...and you are definitely out. Team, get out here...team?" he said, getting static. Switching frequencies, Matt asked, "Chip, WARDEN, can you hear me?"

"I'm online sir. You're the first person we've heard from in the last 15 minutes. Chip has finished the analysis. It's an advanced mutagen, Asgardian in origin. I am guessing Miss Circe is not a licensed physician," said WARDEN.

"Not like her mythological counterpart, my foot," grumbled Matt, "WARDEN, feel free to smack Chip for not being suspicious enough."

"Yes, sir. I have rebooted the ship scanners. They indicate patches of hybrid lifesigns throughout this island. Scans also indicate energy weapon residue...dated for several solar orbits ago," said WARDEN, calmly.

"I've just met three examples of the hybrids," stated Matt.

"Sir, I have just pinpointed your team. 35% of their lifesigns are fluctuating. I am also receiving mutagen alerts from your sister's nanite network," said WARDEN urgently.

Matt rolled his eyes and said, "Not again. She better have her own mind this time." Matt turned to leave at that and saw several of Circe's minions, looking at the unconscious trio, impressed. "Yes? Is there a problem?" he asked sarcastically.

"The mistress wishes to speak with you," said a panther man.

"Right after I...take these kids home," said Matt, glaring at the guards warningly.

"You need not trouble yourself with such a trivial task," said a buffalo man, "We can see to these miscreants for you."

Matt glared, saying, "If it's all the same, I'll do it."

"The mistress's summons is more important. It would be unwise for you to ignore it," said one that looked like some member of the weasel family which Matt couldn't think of right now.

"Now then, how would you 'handle' these kids who have all the military experience of a rock?" said Matt coldly.

"With discipline, of course," said the buffalo man, "Spare the rod and spoil the child."

"Ok...how about no? Tell your 'mistress' that a...void walker doesn't answer to her," said Matt, noticing out the corner of his eye that the kangaroo girl was faking her unconsciousness.

Whether it was the message itself or Matt referring to himself as a 'void walker', it really set the guards off. "The mistress wants those rejects..." snapped one of the guards, stepping forward and being punched so hard he span in place.

Matt glanced at the kangaroo girl who was up and moving. "You're tougher than you look," he complimented.

"Huh...I still don't trust-" she began before a plasma blast shot past her head and into the head of a guard aiming at her, stunning him.

The remaining guard, the buffalo man, let out a bellow before lowering his head and charging forward. Matt glared at that before spreading his wings and taking off at the last second. "Thick as a plank," he muttered as the buffalo guard slammed into the wall, out cold before landing to see the other kids coming around. "Ok, explanations, now," he snapped.

The lion man shook his head and said, "You should know by now. I knew she was saving the power of the dragon for someone special. At least you're someone who won't fall under her thrall so easily."

"Only been on this planet a month. Only got here yesterday...had the scales up to 3 years now," said Matt before looking at his scanner. "Now get out of here. It's clear these guys want your head...and I'm about to demolish the place," he said.

"That would be unwissse," hissed the splitter-snake, "There have been others who have attempted to overthrow the enchantresss before. All were...made examplesss of."

Matt looked around before tossing an energy ball overarm at the wall...which vanished. "I think I'm good," said Matt, walking past the shocked trio.

...

"Daya...Paulus...we got to go after him. He's gonna get killed and the village could use him," said the kangaroo hybrid, called Salia.

"He could alssso be a danger to the village," said the snake-splitter called Daya, "He ssseemsss quick to anger and he could level the whole village on hisss own."

"He saved us from being captured...even if he did beat us up," said Salia.

"We could have been jussst lucky to avoid mossst of his wrath," said Daya.

Paulus said, "He did say he was a soldier. He and his people may be the best chance we have."

"Perhapsss...but how are we sssuppossse to convince him to come to the village?" asked Daya.

"We'll cross that bridge when we reach it," said Salia, running after Matt.

...

Circe was sat at the new deserted banquet table, not even flinching when the double doors exploded into splinters. "Knock-knock," called Matt, strolling inside.

"You missed out on a lovely meal," said Circe.

"You never know what my ship says was in that food. It's, oh you'll laugh, that you were trying to poison me," said Matt, his tone turning vicious.

"Not poison, potion," said Circe, "You see, trading is not so easy here with so few resources. So I offer something a bit more precious to visitors, something that they take for granted every day."

"And what might that be?" said Matt, before absently firing a shot into the shadows above, a guard with a crossbow falling down with a smoking hole in him. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?" he said.

Circe glared at Matt and said, "I wish you wouldn't do that? You know how hard it is to get new specimens?"

"So...what's your story? Disgruntled Executive Genetics scientist? Doctor who lost her license? Batshit bonkers?" said Matt, walking up the room, backhanding a charging guard into unconsciousness.

"I'll have you know that I was the greatest sorceress and scientist in Asgard," snapped Circe, "I paved the road for future generations of my people to stride boldly. However, they considered my contribution to biological science was...unacceptable."

"Oh...Asgardian. Then you know all about the NSC and their policies on renegades," said Matt, cheerfully.

"I have been unable to keep up with the outside universe, thanks in part to your Atlantean superiors," said Circe.

"Atlanteans? Man, you're way out of touch. I'm a mercenary, so any of those rules about having to take you back alive are at my leisure to ignore," said Matt, reaching forward only for a silver blur to send him flying.

Circe smiled and said, "Your sister seems to lack your suspicions as well as your strength of will."

Matt got up unsteadily, mostly because a vase was stuck over his head...well, before it exploded anyway. "CHLOE...!" he snapped before stopping as he saw the white furred wolf anthro. "Oh, you gotta be kidding," he snapped.

"Yes, she's quite impressive, isn't she?" said Circe, "She'll be my second-greatest creation ever."

"Tell me, have you ever heard of a Shar-Khan?" asked Matt.

"The Atlantean breeding project, wasn't it?" asked Circe, "I've heard they couldn't get off the ground."

"Wrong," said Matt, opening his mouth and spitting a plasma blast into Chloe's chest before shifting to hybrid form and drawing his ion blade. "Nobody mutates my little sister...so I'm afraid I have to kill you," snapped Matt.

"Your sister...hasn't she gone through the same genetic retrofitting as you?" asked Circe. Matt nodded before a lightning blast pinned him against the wall. "She is more valuable than I ever imagined," said Circe, "Let us see if your metamorphosis capabilities is still operational."

Chloe's fur stood on end as the static electricity built up. However, instead of sprouting wings or horns, a discharge of electrical energy spread out from her. Matt gulped as the charge got closer, his nanites flashing warnings before he said "Sorry Chloe," blasting the roof to bring it down. The stone roof quickly gave way, causing a small avalanche of rubble to fall on top of Chloe.

Matt glared at Circe. "This isn't over. I've got tanks!" he yelled, turning to run and piling into the trio again. Matt gave them an annoyed look and said, "This is a really bad time to be attacking."

"YOU...GUARDS!" yelled Circe, seeing the trio and surprising Matt with her yell.

"Listen, we really need to get out of here," said Matt.

"I know, follow us," said the lion man.

Matt looked to see Circe waving guards in their direction before he said, "No...I lead the way, follow me and stay close."

...

Meanwhile, the dragon riders were in a different part of Circe's mansion. They had left dinner early to check on Hiccup. Snotlout looked a little pale as the group walked out to the rooftop near Hiccup's room where their dragons were resting. "You ok?" asked Astrid as Snotlout burped weakly, almost sounding like a grunt.

"What's with him?" asked Ruffnut.

"Foreign cuisine, it tends to upset sensitive stomachs," said Fishlegs.

"Him? Sensitive?" questioned Tuffnut.

An explosion was heard at that moment from the courtyard, Astrid sighing as Tuffnut said "Matt's really taking the Viking cover to the limit. He even got the traditional banquet fight going."

"I hope they left something for us to eat, I'm starving," said Ruffnut.

The sound of laser fire was heard at that, not that far away, though the gang ignored it as just more of the usual before they finally came to Hiccup's room to find Toothless outside, clawing at the door along with Starflame who was simply waiting.

"It looks like Toothless really wants in," said Fishlegs.

"Geeze, he can't stay away from him for five minutes, can he?" said Snotlout before letting out an even louder belch.

Astrid gave a sigh of disgust and turned around saying, "Snotlout, you are such a..." She paused after she looked at him and finished weakly, "Pig?"

Snotlout, now sporting a pig snout instead of a nose, said "What? Is there something on my face?"

The others stared before Fishlegs asked, "Which one of us should tell him?"

Astrid gulped before slowly lifting up her axe to show the reflection to Snotlout who just stared, Tuffnut saying after a minute, "I think it broke him."

Just then, Toothless made a more frantic sound and tried to slam the door down. "Uh, you don't think..." started Fishlegs.

On cue they turned to hear someone running out onto the rooftop, turning to see Techo. "Kids? What the smeg are you doing? Get outta here," he snapped. He paused when he saw Snotlout's nose and said, "I don't suppose that's only a party mask."

"I don't think so. What were you running from?" asked Astrid before a shape smashed out into the roof, one of Matt's men, though the eyes and hands that were visible weren't human.

"That," said Techo, firing at the trooper until he fell, which wasn't far from them, "Everyone who ate something went weird not long after Matt wandered off."

"That would explain Snoutlout here," said Tuffnut.

"Hey!" snapped Snotlout.

"Look, everyone who didn't eat anything split up. We're getting the hell out. Let's get Hiccup and bloody leg it," said Techo, trying the door, finding it locked, shrugging and taking off his glove to reveal a silver segmented hand that easily tore the lock off. "What? Never seen bionics before? Matt's got one now too," he said, tossing the lock over the side.

"I wondered how he recovered after that Taleth pummeled him so badly," said Astrid.

Techo peered in to see the lights were off. "Hiccup, rise and shine. We are leaving!" he yelled, not one for subtlety. There was a loud groan, that didn't quite sound like Hiccup. "Erm...Hicc-wow!" said Techo, being shocked as Toothless pushed him aside to get in. "Hiccup, get the hell up, we are out of here. Circe's a psycho."

There was an odd draconic growling. "Uh, Toothless, that was you, right?" asked Astrid.

Toothless shook his head, backing up as Techo's wristcomp, an old souvenir from his time in the NSC military chimed "Alert...hostile intent from hybrid lifeform."

"Uh oh..." said Techo, backing up.

"Hiccup?" tried Astrid before hearing that the fighting had stopped.

"Well...I did wonder where you all got too," said Circe's voice behind them, Techo spinning and emptying a clip into her. However, the bullets didn't even get near Circe, most of them ricocheting off or stopping dead about five inches in front of her.

"I hate Asgardians," muttered Techo to himself before the others closed ranks with him.

'You're not getting near Hiccup," snapped Astrid before Circe sighed "Let's leave that to him. Oh pet, please subdue these fools...alive please."

There was a snarling sound as the group turned to see something large with wings rising up from the bed.

The beast men might have done something, had Barf and Belch not chosen to act, along with the other dragons, bar Toothless and Starflame who were looking in shock into the room

Circe gave the dragons an annoyed look and said, "I should have taken care of them first. Guards, restrain those dragons!"

Astrid glared at that, punching one guard who was immediately spiked by Stormfly before Toothless and Starflame were sent flying out of the room, a third Night Fury crashing out. However, there were three unusual things about the Night Fury. One, it was a head taller than Toothless or Starflame. Two, it had a small mark on its throat that looked a bit like a Chinese dragon. And three, its left hind leg ended with a disproportionate metal foot.

The Fury turned to glare at Astrid at that, a well-aimed plasma blast knocking her axe flying as she made the connection. "Hiccup?" she said before a much larger ion blast knocked him on his tail.

"What part of 'leg it' failed to communicate?" snapped Techo, before he jumped off the roof to a lower balcony. The others quickly scrambled towards the exit, the dragons' distraction allowing them to slip by most of the beast men.

...

Matt was being followed by the trio. "I am not leaving without the kids," he snapped for the fifth time.

"You're wasting your time," said Paulus, "They've probably turned into beasts like the rest of your crew. We need to fortify a plan in the safety of the village if we are to rescue them."

Matt picked up a rifle, probably discarded by a mutating trooper before calmly machine-gunning some shadows, two guards waiting in ambush falling down. "I said NO!" he snapped, his eyes shining red.

"Be reasonable. How many of them do you really expect to be able to find in their human state?" said Paulus.

Matt turned to glare. "Fine...but I am finding them," he said before looking out a window and saying in a puzzled voice. "And there they go...that was surprisingly easy," he said before he heard a thud from above.

"What wasss that?" asked Daya.

Matt sniffed before sighing "It's just Toothless and Starflame...and Toothless?" he said, sniffing again from puzzlement.

Daya flicked his tongue out and hissed, "The enchantresss's magic isss new and clossse."

Matt peered out to look up to see an unidentified Night Fury peering down. "Erm...hi?" he tried.

"Intruders..." it hissed.

"Wait...do I know..." began Matt before bowing grabbed in the new dragon's mouth and thrown over the perimeter wall.

"Circe has used the Cloak of Guardians after all," said Salia. "Thisss will be a problem," said Daya.

Paulus said nervously, "He looks hungry...retreat time?"

"I think our 'hero' can be convinced now," said Daya.

...

Kala groaned, coming too to see Toothless nudging him. _"But I don't wanna go to school maaaa…"_ she said dizzily.

_"We don't have time for that,"_ snapped Toothless, _"Hiccup is in trouble, really big trouble."_

_"You mean apart from the new body and the fact he sucker punched us through sandstone?"_ Kala groaned.

_"Yes, I think that witch may have imprisoned his mind as well,"_ said Toothless.

_"No...really,"_ said Kala sarcastically. Her trip through the wall had removed her usual ability to be sympathetic.

_"Hiccup would never take orders to hurt his friend, especially after what she did to him,"_ growled Toothless.

_"Look, I think I...oooh,"_ said Kala, watching as Hiccup sent Matt flying, _"Yeah, I think Matt has the right idea. We got to run. We can't win this."_

_"I can't fly without Hiccup,"_ said Toothless, waving his tail for emphasis.

_"That's why I said run!"_ snapped Kala.

Toothless growled with agitation before jumping down to the ground. Kala followed, gliding and seeing what was left of Matts team running for it, firing wildly while arrows and Atlantean staff energy blasts rained into them...it was a mess. The other dragons had managed to collect their riders and were flying off. Though Snotlout was having a little trouble hanging on as his hands were turning into hooves.

A few of the guards turned to fire on Toothless, others throwing a net. Kala hesitated, she felt she may be able to carry Toothless, but she wasn't so sure about she'd be able to stay in the air for very long. _"Get out of here!"_ yelled Toothless before swatting at the guards. Kala glared before sighing and following the retreating troopers.

...

Matt groaned, noticing he was embedded in a rock. "Bad...dragon," he groaned before hands pulled him free.

"Let's go, move it!" yelled the trooper before an energy orb exploded against his back

Matt shook his head to allow his vision to clear. It was then he noticed several beast men guards with Atlantean staffs. "You have got to be kidding me," he said. A few shots lanced past him, something in Matt snapping as the past few month's stress collapsed down on him at once. "Leave...me...ALONE!" he roared, any watchers being blinded by a bright flash of plasma that shot out for 50 feet in all directions. The guards were definitely taken care of by the blast, but unfortunately, that blast cost most of Matt's energy reserves.

It would have been his end had Paulus not grabbed him in passing, Salia waving to the retreating troopers to follow her. With little other option, the troopers followed them, if only because they had the captain.

...

Circe grinned as the Night Fury was dragged in by her guards before one of her bruised guards walked up. "My lady...the other Atlantean...her nanolathes have overridden your spells control. We had to subdue her."

Circe sighed and said, "I thought it was a little too good to be true. I suppose I'll have to keep her on a tight leash until I can assert a more permanent control."

"My lady. I must say, the Atlanteans may not be as merciful this time," said the guard, nervously. His grandfather had told him the stories of how, despite their lady's magical devices, the Atlanteans had simply rained fire upon them from the stars until landing their warriors to mop up. He had no wish to relive it.

Circe smiled and said, "There is nothing to worry about. According to our guests, the Atlanteans are no longer in power or even in existence. They even destroyed the great snake that acted as jail keeper over this world."

The guard let out a secret sigh of relief at the realization that laser death wouldn't be arriving from on high any time soon. "In fact, all we need is a working starship to finally leave this planet," said Circe, "That's the one last thing I need from Captain Lynch and his crew."

"You want us to attack them? They will no doubt be prepared for us..." said the guard nervously before backing up from Circe's glare and trying something else, "What of the others? Many of them fled with the three rejects."

"I have spared those rejects the full fury of my wrath for too long," said Circe, "Their futile rebellion has been amusing for a while, but today is the last time. It is time we taught them all a lesson once and for all. We have taken most of Lynch's men. What few remain won't be able to stop us."

"As you wish, my lad-" began the guard before the ground shook again, smoke rising from the volcano, which had been hit by some kind of meteor a fortnight earlier.

Circe looked towards the volcano with a slightly worried look on her face. "We may have less time than I anticipated. We must not delay any longer. Lynch's ship must be ours by tomorrow dawn."

"Yes, my lady. Force one, head for the void walker's vessel and take it. Force two, with me. Force 3, defend your mistress and her pet," said the guard.

Circe smiled to herself as her forces departed. "First, I shall be liberated from this primitive world. Then I shall take my vengeance on those who imprisoned me here. After which...well, I suppose there will be a vacancy for a new power in the multiverse."

...

Matt came too to see a thatched roof in his field of vision and a water soaked cloth on his forehead. A dull ache in his bones quickly reminded him of the brutal beating he had gotten from that Night Fury. "Hello?" he said, looking over to see his things were in the corner. There was a whimpering sound and Matt looked over to see Starflame by his bed. "I should have known you'd be near," he said, rubbing her head.

"Yes, we couldn't keep her away," said a voice, Matt looking up to see a splitter, in an old splitter empire uniform checking a medical scanner. "You're lucky to be breathing," she said loftily.

"I'm tougher than I look," said Matt, trying to ignore the ache.

"Indeed...interesting gene-implants in your bloodwork. I'm assuming the prelate finally sent mercenaries to rescue us," said the splitter calmly..

"Er, you've been stuck here a long time, haven't you?" asked Matt.

"Several hundred solar cycles to date. A machine in orbit forced our ship down and an unidentified humanoid had her...mutants pick my crew off. The people here gave me sanctuary after my medical skills proved a help. Dania Kaviar, chief medical officer," said the splitter

"Matthew Lynch, captain of the North Star," replied Matt.

"North Star. There is no mercenary ship with that designation," said Dania, calmly, helping Matt to a sitting position and proceeding to run a dermal regenerator over a cut.

"Well, there are a couple of explanations. First of all, my real captaincy was on the Bladestorm, but it got blown up," said Matt.

"Bladestorm? That's a rebel ship." said Dania.

"You've heard about the Civil War?" asked Matt, surprised.

"Last I heard it was still raging. I am guessing that we lost." said Dania, coldly

"Well, there's a different Civil War going on now," said Matt.

"Hmph...so...are you here to arrest me or save me?" said Dania.

"I'm tempted to say 'save you', but it looks like we need a little saving ourselves," said Matt.

"As does everyone here. Come, human," said Dania, pulling Matt up, a little harshly before walking out into a small village, dozens of various mutants all walking around. "These people were lucky enough to stay sane after Circe got to them. As a result, when I was taken in, they were being systematically slaughtered."

"Yes, this Circe seems to think of herself as an advanced version of Dr. Moreau," said Matt.

"That is not all. A fortnight ago, I monitored an energy build up near the volcano on island 3. At the current rate of energy growth, a class two pyroclastic blast will occur within between 72 and 48 hours," said Dania

"That's enough to destroy this archipelago, isn't it?" asked Matt.

"Yes, though not powerful enough to damage the local biosphere." said Dania

"I suppose that's a small mercy, but we'd still have to evacuate everyone. Well, evacuate everyone with enough sanity to be treated. Circe can stay and burn for all I care," said Matt.

"That will be hard. There are nearly 70 families here of varying sizes," said Dania, walking along with Matt through the village.

"That might not be as much of a problem as you think," said Matt, "The North Star's bigger than you know. However, Circe's definitely not going to just let us go. Especially since she'll most likely want the ship for herself."

"That is good news. The rest of your men are this way. Many seem to have ingested her potion. I do however have a remedy," said Dania.

"Great, I'd hate to have to hire a veterinarian," said Matt.

"Hmm...that would be a problem for logistics," said Dania before Techo walked out of an alley.

"Boss, you're back on your feet again," he said cheerfully, stopping to glare at Dania.

Matt noticed the glare and said, "This is not a time for old defunct feuds, Techo. Have we salvaged everything we need from the Bladestorm yet?"

"We got bigger problems. Snotty got a little...worse," said Techo, stepping side.

Matt looked down to see a medium-sized pig. Matt would have questioned why it mattered but he noticed the familiar helmet that's been tied to his head. "Snotlout?" he asked with disbelief. The pig glared at that. Matt stopped. "Wait, we all ate and drank except you and me, Techo. The others?" he said, pushing past.

He soon found Fishlegs who had his back turned to Matt. He didn't seem very different until Matt noticed the flattened tail protruding from under his shirt. "Uh, Fishlegs?" asked Matt.

Fishlegs turned around, showing his furry face and buck teeth. "Hey Matt, you're looking better," he said before gnawing more on the sugar cane he was holding.

"Yeah...and you...need a shave," said Matt faintly.

"It's not so bad," said Fishlegs, "I mean, I've got all the fat I need to make it through the winter. I just need to make a big enough dam."

Techo said quickly, "Dania administered the antidote as fast as she could but some of the instincts are still poking them.

Dania nodded, "He's lucky. He'll be human again by the end of the day."

"I see..." said Matt uneasily, "Where are the twins?"

Techo pointed at an open area where Tuffnut and Ruffnut, both looking like satyrs, were butting heads with each other. "Yeah...we're trying to explain that one too," said Techo.

Matt sighed "And Astrid?" he said.

"She was lucky. I administered her antidote before the potion went live," said Dania, pointing to where Astrid was sparring with a guard.

"Oh, so nothing's wrong with her," said Matt with a little relief.

"I wouldn't say that. My temporal scanner shows a large magi burst in her near future," said Dania

"That's unusual," remarked Matt before shrugging, "Anything else I should know?"

Draco flew down onto a nearby hut and said, "Hey, Matt, you're gonna want to see- Hey, a pig, can I eat it?"

"That's Snotlout!" snapped Techo.

"Is that a 'yes' or 'no'?" asked Draco.

"It's a reluctant no," said Matt gloomily before adding "What do I want to see?"

"Well, we've been going through the wreckage of the Bladestorm and you're not gonna believe who we found inside," said Draco.

"You found my comics?" said Matt eagerly

"Well, yes, you ought to find out how they produced those impenetrable plastic wraps," said Draco, "But this is a bit more important."

Matt heard a growing rumble and the sound of mechanical gears whirring. He quickly turned around to see something large approaching. He was about to blast it when it said in an irritated tone, "Captain Lynch, I hope you have an explanation for why the students are tardy."

"Oh crap," muttered Matt before saying, "We were attacked by a assault bot the size of a moon and crashed." to the machine that was causing the village guard to scramble.

"Ms. Lilo Pelekai, Ms. Megan Roph, and Mr. Gaheris Lesog have been absent for 78 days, 13 hours, and 54 minutes. They have undoubtedly had a considerable drop in the grade point average," said the robot.

"Look...for the second time. The ship's destroy...wait, Gary's full name is Gaheris?" said Matt, breaking into a grin.

"That was it says on my student files," said the robot, flashing Gary's profile onto its screen.

Matt grinned before shaking his head. "Update and synch with North star mainframe," he said, making a note to tease Gary over this.

"Update commencing..." stated the robot before a progress bar appeared on its screen.

Dania gave the robot an odd look and said, "This robot is clearly designed for combat and yet it acts like a tutoring program."

"That's because a friend turned it into a teaching machine for our...tougher personnel," said Matt, "I'll introduce you to them if we live through this."

The machine pinged before saying, "Tutorbot 3.0 update complete, considering the current status of the crew, the curriculum shall be temporarily adjusted to focus on survival techniques."

"Good, but for now...override alpha 42, switch to original combat protocol," said Matt.

Tutorbot's screen flashed an image of a chalkboard before shifting it to a battle grid. "Combat programing activated," it said in a considerably less friendly tone, "Identify targets."

"All targets within this settlement and all NSC tier crew," said Matt.

"Acknowledged," said Tutorbot before bringing its guns to bear on them.

"Uh, Matt, I think you need to rephrase that," said Techo.

"I meant all targets in settlement and NSC tier as friendlies!" screamed Matt.

There was an uncomfortably long pause before Tutorbot said, "Voice print confirmed, adjusting settings." Its guns then powered down.

"Good," said Dania, finally breathing again before she said, "Paulus said that you were very intent on finding someone else...someone called Hiccup?"

"Right, we brought him here to be treated for blood fever," said Matt, "I bet the 'good doctor' had a different idea about 'treatment'."

"Indeed. She was intent on using an Asgardian artifact for a host but most subjects died. It turned out it was keyed to Norse terran blood," said Dania.

"And what is this artifact?" asked Matt.

"I don't know, but it is one of a small series. The one she based it off was apparently retaken by an ancient taskforce working with the Asgardians...but the one she uses seems to use far eastern ones. She called it the Cloak of Guardians," said Dania.

"That doesn't sound so evil," said Techo.

"She added her own brainwashing magi systems to it," added Dania flatly

"That definitely sounds bad," said Techo.

"It is. He needs to be snapped out of it. Artifacts like this are mental related. We need to snap him out of the brainwashing before he is lost to it," said Dania.

"Ok, any idea how?" asked Matt.

"No idea...true love?" said Dania sarcastically.

"Let's save that for a back-up plan," said Matt.

"Warning...unidentifieds are entering scanner range," said Tutorbot.

"Hold fire until we have a visual," commanded Matt.

Dania however was sniffing the air. "Oh no...they're coming..."

"Tutorbot, prepare to engage enemies," said Matt.

On cue, the village wall exploded as something shot overhead. "Aerial target approaching," announced Tutorbot as it angled its guns upward. Matt and the others looked up in time for a familiar shape to slam down and blast Tutorbot to pieces. The group winced as Tutorbot's head went flying over them shouting a pre-programmed "AAAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!"

The Night Fury looked around with an angry look, Dania saying "She actually did it...that witch."

"I was hoping that I had misremembered that part," said Matt.

"Hiccup?" said Astrid, before trying to run forward before a plasma blast and arrow combo nearly stopped her.

...

Kala knew that she would have to fight Dragon-Hiccup again, but she had hoped it would be the 'final boss fight' at Circe's mansion. Still, she didn't hesitate about charging him. _"Hiccup, snap out of it. Don't make me hurt you!"_ she yelled, circling above him.

Hiccup just roared before firing a plasma blast at Kala. Kala glared and thanked her lucky stars that she had practiced, rolling neatly to avoid the shots. The process that had done this had clearly not provided experience beyond flight skills. She took a moment to size up her opponent. Hiccup may be larger than she or Toothless, but he still had that pegleg. That ought to work as a disadvantage, right?

_"Hiccup, I know you can understand me. You're attacking your friends, you're attacking Toothless!"_ she roared, wincing as these words provided a distraction for Matt to toss a plasma blast of his own to little effect.

Hiccup's eyes seemed to soften for a second, but then he cringed in pain before letting out another roar and blasting Matt. Kala rolled her eyes before swooping at Hiccup to tackle him from the side and roaring in his face _"GET A GRIP!"_

Hiccup struggled before saying, _"Cloak...too...strong...mistress...power...great.. ."_

Kala sighed before trying a tried and tested method for when Draconus tried what the cloak did; she headbutted Hiccup between the eyes. If nothing else, it at least dazed him, seeing how his eyes were spinning. _"Now BEHAVE!"_ she roared.

That might have worked, but then Kala noticed something glimmering and she looked down to see the Eastern dragon mark on his chest moving on its own. Kala looked closer at it only for it to flash a light in her face, dazing her. Kala winced and closed her eyes, which gave Hiccup the opening to return her blow.

Several laser bolts and arrows lanced out at that, the medallion glowing and apparently giving Hiccup the skills needed to dodge the blasts and use his tail to harmlessly flick the arrows away.

Then Toothless himself barreled and tackled Hiccup. He may not be able to fly right now, but that didn't stop him from attacking him on the ground. _"Hiccup, you have to wake up,"_ he said, desperately before Hiccup threw him off

Hiccup seemed to struggle before saying, "Can't...cloak...won't...let...me..."

_"Hiccup...please,"_ said Toothless desperately before a tesla blast shot into Hiccup's back, joined by another continuous beam, two of Matt's men firing the anti-riot stun weapons on continuous setting

A third blast joined, much to Toothless's horror as he heard the third trooper say "He's passing out...pour it on, marines and get a restraint ready."

Toothless snarled and was about to spring forward when Kala said, _"Wait, it might be for the best. It'll keep him still long enough to try and get some sense through him."_

Matt could be heard yelling at the troopers to stop as Hiccup groaned, the amulet's jewels flickering.

Toothless growled and said, _"We need to get that thing off of him."_

_"Good idea, problem is, these claws aren't exactly designed for precision surgery,"_ said Kala, waving her paw around.

Hiccup groaned at that, _"What? Where am I?"_

_"Sounds like he's more in control now,"_ said Toothless.

_"For the moment, but I might as well pass on a message first."_ She walked over to the dazed Hiccup. _"Ok, Hiccup, I need you to listen carefully. When we fix this and you're human again, PLEASE tell Matt that I'm really Kala, the missing crewmate he's been after. He'll know what you mean,"_ said Kala, urgently.

_"Huh? Kala? That's a nice name. Sounds better than Starflame,"_ said Hiccup, who didn't seem to be all the way there.

_"HICCUP! FOCUS!"_ snapped Kala with the air of someone seeing an opportunity fleeing into the long grass.

Hiccup shook his head and said, _"Kala, this cloak hasn't given up. It's only a matter of time before that witch has me under her control again. You need to find a way to get it off. I'm not sure if she'll leave enough of me next time to bring back."_

Kala and Toothless looked panicky at that for various reasons. For Toothless, it was the thought of losing his best friend and for Kala it was of being separated from Matt permanently. With a cry of desperation, Kala started clawing at the dragon mark to get it off.

On cue another tesla blast hit her in the back. "Don't hurt her, but get a restraint on Hiccup, now!" said Matt's voice.

Toothless decided that the humans at least need a clue about what to do so he got some mud from the ground and splatted it against the dragon mark. "What the hell's Toothless doing?" said one marine, proving the very reason Matt's team got into such fixes.

Toothless rolled his eyes and said, _"How can humans be so painfully oblivious?"_

_"Matt goes for firepower skills first and brains second,"_ said Kala as several troopers carefully used silver cabling to restrain Hiccup

_"A bit like himself then?"_ teased Toothless.

_"Yeah...uh oh,"_ said Kala, noticing how Hiccup's little amulet was starting to glow again.

_"How are we supposed to get them to notice it?"_ asked Toothless.

_"Gee, maybe we should paint a big bull's eye over it,"_ said Kala sarcastically.

Hiccup was wincing and shaking at the glow got brighter.

...

Circe glared and cursed adding a technological control to the cloak given that it was now having trouble reapplying the mental filters. "I should have sent some other flyers with him. But no, I just stuck with the dragon," she grumbled.

"My Lady. I have grim news. None of the men sent to the void walker's ship have returned. The last message was of iron arachnids."

"I should have known that they had a cargo of large automatons with them," said Circe.

"They claim they were small...then we heard...whee…" said the guard.

Circe blinked and said, "I'm going to pretend you described a more fitting demise for my guard and thus spare you of being my next rug."

"It's true..." said the guard, replaying the message, a voice saying "What in the realms is..." 'WHEEEEEEE' before it cut off.

Circe's eye twitched as she said, "I have been having a progressively bad day. I've been losing my guards to rebellious rejects, interlopers are start to be more trouble than they're worth, and now little metal spiders. Not to mention the artifact I've been saving for centuries may have been wasted. If I hear one more setback that sounds even the slightest bit humorous, the unfortunate messenger will be shot, stuffed, and mounted. Am I clear?"

On cue, a tingling indicated that her mental connection was re-establishing and much to her anger, alot of nasty free will was loose. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an ultimate warrior to get back under my control," said Circe before concentrating.

...

Matt peered in at Hiccup who had stopped shaking and was trying to break his bonds. "Real mind whammy," he muttered.

"This is why I hate mind control," said Techo, "I mean, it's bad enough when the villains are using it on innocent bystanders, but they can't resist using it on your strongest friends."

"This isn't magic. Something called the Cloak of Guardians wouldn't come with a remote," said Matt, peering in before looking over at Astrid. As soon as Hiccup had been grabbed, Circe's men had turned tail and run.

"He is still in there, right?" asked Astrid.

Matt looked at his wristcomp and nodded as the results tested good. "Yeah...under alot of nasty mind whammy," he said.

"Well, at least the cloak did what it was supposed to with that blood fever," said Lao as he checked Hiccup's vitals, "I suppose dragons are not as vulnerable to poisoning as other creatures."

"How do we know it won't come back when that thing's taken off?" said Techo, only for Dania to take a look with her own scanner.

"Ji'dok inika." it chimed, Dania nodding. "He's clean. No sign of DNA poisoning, either in stasis or active."

"Well, that's good...except he doesn't have his own DNA at the moment," said Matt.

"Don't magic artifacts have a turn-off command like 'open sesame' or something?" asked Astrid.

"Yeah, shame we can't ask him where it hurts," said Matt, Hiccup glaring as the amulet blazed before he snapped at Matt.

"Hey, here's a wild thought: why don't we try prying off that artificial dragon mark?" said Techo sarcastically.

Matt looked at Techo before looking at the snarling Hiccup. "Any volunteers?" he said sarcastically.

"Uh, I wanna keep the one good arm I have left," said Techo.

"Same here," said Matt quickly.

"If I was Circe, I'd have a way to turn this off in case my pet monster went bananas and caught the Frankenstein effect," said Techo, before realizing what he said "Sorry...about the monster thing."

Hiccup snarled before snapping at him. "Not sure if that was Hiccup doing that, but I agree," said Astrid.

"Erm...sir?" said a trooper, pointing to where the restraint were giving out.

"Ok, probably gonna get mocked for this later, but do we have any dragonnip?" asked Matt.

"Too late, get back!" yelled Techo, diving back as Hiccup broke his restraints as Starflame and Toothless leapt forward, Matt and his team running the watching villagers to run for cover.

The only one who didn't run was Astrid who made a mad dash over to Hiccup. "Uh, you're supposed to run AWAY from the angry dragon!" called Techo. Matt sighed before swearing and running after her.

...

Astrid stopped in front of the three dragons, Toothless and Starflame surrounding Hiccup and not giving him the space needed for a takeoff. "Hiccup!" she called. Hiccup roared, but he didn't try to attack. "Hiccup...please. You're better than this. Whatever Circe did to you shouldn't have a hold," she said, slowly walking forward. Hiccup snarled, but it was more of a 'stay back' snarl than an 'I'm going to attack' snarl.

"Hiccup...please. We have to get that thing off you," said Astrid, slightly emboldened by the reaction as a good sign. Hiccup's expression did not change, but he slowly, and apparently forcibly, craned his neck upward, making the mark a lot easier to get at.

Matt, who was watching, held up his hand to stop his men intervening. This was a hair trigger situation. Any distraction or noise and it could turn nasty.

"Hiccup, whatever it is you're thinking about, hold on to it," said Astrid, "Don't let Circe take control. You have to hang on to what's really important to you."

Hiccup seemed to be trying before, just as Astrid was about to grab the artifact, his eyes flashed the same color as the mark and he snarled angrily.

"Astrid, I think you should move back now," said Lao.

"No, it's now or never," said Astrid before lunging forward and grabbing the artifact.

At the same time, Hiccup took off, resulting in Astrid hanging on, the roars indicating it wasn't painless.

"Techo, better get Stormfly!" called Matt, "Astrid, don't let go!"

"Like I have a choice!" snapped Astrid.

...

Circe glared while rubbing her forehead. The stupid child's mind had been harder to re-submerge then she had predicted and now she had a migraine. The sound of flapping got her attention at that, before an unexpected 'ouch' was heard as well.

She looked up to see her dragon hovering above and she looked down to see the Viking girl rubbing her sore wrist. Circe raised an eyebrow and said, "Well, this is certainly a surprise."

The Viking was immediately on her feet angrily. "You...you did this to hiccup!" she snapped, Circe impressed at either the blind suicidalness or bravery of the girl.

"You do realize who I am, do you?" Circe said calmly.

"I know you're a wicked witch with a twisted sense of what qualifies as a 'pet'," snapped Astrid.

"Less pet and more guardian, but he seems quite happy," said Circe, tauntingly stroking her pet's head after he had landed beside her.

"That's not even close to how he really feels," said Astrid, "If your guards had any real freedom, none of them would want to be anywhere near you."

"Well, seeing as none of you are leaving this island..." said Circe, yawning and pressing a rune on her throne secretly.

"I know at least you aren't," said Astrid, "Matt would rather be a salamander than take you on so much as a cruise around the island on his ship."

"He won't have a choice, especially since I have several of his crew, including his apparently sister...and now you," said Circe with a smirk just as the far doors burst open and several of Circe's guards piled in with crossbows.

"You won't turn me into a beast that easily," said Astrid.

"No, some kind of magic is stopping my concoction from working, but you'll make a great hostage. Take her away. If she resists, she can be my pet's first meal," said Circe calmly.

...

There were several suggestions for what to do next. Dania's suggestion for simply leaving was met with less than substantial support. "We are not leaving without Hiccup and Astrid!" snapped Matt.

Dania sighed. "Neither of us have the manpower to attack her villa and that volcano..." Dania said, pointing to where a black smokestack was already billowing skywards, "...is going to go within 24 hours."

"Lack of manpower? I don't think you know how to measure manpower," said Matt.

"Because I'm not a man or because I'm not human?" said Dania scathingly.

Matt sighed. "The splitter empire's toast...and so is that sort of insult. Look, you've been here longer than us. You must know a way in otherwise you wouldn't be rescuing 'rejects'," said Matt, using the nickname for the rebels.

Dania hissed before saying, "There are a couple of ways in, but so far all attempts to exploit have..."

"Let me guess, they were made examples of," said Matt.

"I don't think she's really trying to cover all her bases," said Dania, "I think she's letting those vulnerable spots be open because she knows someone will try and they'll be captured. She's been drawing out our hope bit by bit."

"Well, she's not met us before...and neither have you. We can get in there..." began Matt only for Dania to snap "Fine...go to your deaths. You are not the first I have heard make these claims."

"There is a lot that separates us from those other guys," said Matt.

"Fine. It is foolhardy but...good luck, as you humans say...but I will not let you force those children and their companions to also die," said Dania, several of the guards aiming.

"I think you'll find that they'll have more issues with that than me," said Matt.

"Yeah. We're not gonna let these guys have all the fun," said Ruffnut, the twins and Fishlegs thankfully now human again, though Fishlegs hadn't let go of a stick he'd been chewing on yet.

Dania looked at them and said, "You are just children. You do not belong in a war, much less a war against a sorceress."

"They have our friends," said Fishlegs stubbornly.

"That's what they all said," said Dania, "Friends and family, everyone has lost someone in there and no one's came back out with them."

"How many had firearms?" said Matt.

Dania threw up her arms in disgust and said, "Fine, go rescue your two friends. Those of us who can still see reason will be on the ship."

"Fine...WARDEN. Take off at the last minute you have before you can't get clear," said Matt into his comm.

"Very well, sir. Also, I'd like to point out that we sent an upgrade to the nanites in your arm," said WARDEN, "Are you in an open space?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, I'm on the beach outside of the village," said Matt.

"You know, if it wasn't for the fact that an evil sorceress lives next door and this place is going to be destroyed by a volcano, this would be a very pleasant beach for a vacation," commented Fishlegs.

"Yeah...this happens more often than you think," said Matt.

"Excellent, I shall activate each individual upgrade remotely. After the demonstration, I shall unlock conscious activation for you," said WARDEN. With that, the very tip of Matt's index finger began glowing red.

Matt looked at it. "A laser pointer...really? And who gave you permission to play with my arm?" he snapped.

"Sir, you might be surprised when a tiny spot of intense light may come in handy," said WARDEN, "And that's not all that's been installed." The laser pointer turned off only for a small drill to extend from Matt's longest finger. "It's also applicable as a screwdriver and a corkscrew," said WARDEN.

Matt looked at it. "Ok...why that finger?" said Matt, only to hear Chip mutter something over the comm and his expression to somehow...fossilize.

"Also, there is another application that may be handy in a tight situation," said WARDEN. Matt's hand suddenly retracted into his arm before being replaced by a large hook.

Matt glared. "Ok...now you're taking the piss. I am not Captain Hook so I don't need this and what the hell is that piping noise?" said Matt, as a familiar voice could be heard getting louder, coinciding with a v-ripple heading for the shore.

"I don't suppose you've done too much research into the local dragons," said Chip, "Like how they have uncannily acute homing instincts."

"Oh no," said Matt, just as he heard a splash.

...

Chloe looked up as she heard a cut off scream that could only be her brother. Like the kids, she was also now cured, mostly thanks to her nanites. However she hadn't expected Astrid to be thrown into the cell next door. "So, what are you in here for?" she joked, trying to make light of the situation.

"Hiccup brought me here," said Astrid gloomily.

Chloe sighed and said, "I would have thought that if anyone had the strength of will to overcome that artifact, it'd be him."

"That monster Circe's treating him like...a pet," said Astrid, bitterly.

"I can assure you, that's going to come back to bite her in a big way," said Chloe, "Maybe even literally."

"How? We're stuck in here," said Astrid, rattling the heavy iron bars for emphasis.

"Not for long," said Chloe, "If there's one thing I know about my brother, he'll go to any lengths to rescue his friends and me, typically with lots of explosions along the way."

...

Matt peered out the undergrowth, a new necklace of tooth marks around his neck where Steampipe had ambushed him. "I hate that sea serpent. Ok, we'll need to, against my better judgment, be quiet about this," he said, looking at Techo's shocked and worried expression. Matt and stealth rarely added up to anything good.

"So what would be the stealthiest approach?" asked Techo, not sure if he was going to get a good answer.

"We sneak in over the wall and avoid the guards...WHAT?" snapped Matt, as Techo facepalmed.

"Matt, maybe you should delegate the stealth-planning to someone else," suggested Chris.

"I can do this. How hard can it be? OH COME ON!" said Matt, snapping the last part as the group sighed again.

"Matt, you're really not showing much promise with be a 'stealth leader'," said Fishlegs.

"Oh, and I suppose you could do better?" snapped Matt.

"Well, the guards seem to be animals that have good night vision but could be easily blinded. If we time their patrols..." began Fishlegs only to stop as Matt said "Fine, fine, let's just go with plan E."

"E? We weren't even to be Plan N yet," said Tuffnut.

Matt stood up, held up a finger to the wind...and threw a plasma orb at the wall, blowing a large hole in it which Chris and co all ran at. "THAT'S plan E," said Matt.

"I thought 'explode' started with 'X'," said Ruffnut.

...

Circe sighed as the villa shook with an explosion and she activated a communication spell. "Captain, we appear to have visitors. Are the preparations complete?" she asked, stroking Hiccup's head absently.

"Yes, my lady. We shall be awaiting your visitors," said the captain.

Circe winced as she heard Hiccup's voice over the connection. It was an annoying side effect of the Atlantean control implant sown into the cloak which would hopefully fade when his first kill was complete and the human side was permanently removed.

_"You are definitely in for it now,"_ said Hiccup's voice, _"This time, my friends won't stop until your whole place is rubble."_

Circe grinned at that. "Is that a dragon's pride I sense?" she taunted in reply.

_"That's a Viking's pride,"_ said Hiccup, _"We're not exactly Berserkers, but we Hairy Hooligans give everything we've got in battle."_

"Hmm...well, soon you'll be gone and I'll have a nice dragon to protect me and gather test subjects," said Circe smugly.

_"Even if I do become a full dragon, I won't submit that easily,"_ said Hiccup.

"Oh, you will. That's the beauty of the cloak," said Circe with a sneer.

Hiccup growled and said, _"I'm at least going to do as much damage as I can. Like maybe hobble you."_

"Oh, you won't. Your dragon self is completely loyal," said Circe.

_"You don't know much about dragons,"_ growled Hiccup.

"Oh, I know all there is. Now I would like to listen to my PET!" said Circe, pouring on the pressure. Hiccup tried to resist, but he could feel the dragon instincts gaining strength. He had to hang on to who he really was and what really mattered. "Oh, you won't be able to hang on for long, child. Now go rip that female's throat out," said Circe, knowing that all the seal needed was a 'first kill'.

Hiccup tried to resist that command, tried to turn it around to use to his own advantage. All he could hear in his head was Circe's laugh as he helplessly walked out.

...

Circe's guards have experienced plenty of attempted attacks on Circe's villa. All of them have dealt with, some rather swiftly. However, this time, the invaders were a bit more...explosive. The guard captain kept his head down as several of his men were thrown over his cover by another explosion. "Where is that weapon?" he snapped, "It's supposed to be up and firing now!"

"We do not know how to get our lady's magic to work!" yelled a guard before a burst landed at his feet and he 'vanished'.

The captain cursed and snapped, "Is there anyone competent enough to carry out our lady's orders?!"

Matt peered over his cover. "Peekaboo...I SEE YOU!" he yelled, lunging at him.

The captain, being a warthog, let out a porcine squeal before Matt started knocking him around.

Circe walked out to see what was sheer mayhem before sighing "If you want something done..." she muttered.

She was heading over to her weapon when she heard a distant boom. She looked up in confusion to see if the volcano had started erupting, but it hadn't yet. Then she heard the whooshing sound of something coming in very fast, soon followed by the sound of someone yelling "DARE TO BE STUPID!"

She looked up in time for a white blob to splat on her face, knocking her on her arse. Those who were fighting nearby at the time paused in bewildered amusement as Circe struggled to remove the white blob from her face, her muffled curses thankfully censored for the kids.

Matt broke the silence by attacking the nearest guards...only to be knocked on his back by Hiccup when he aimed a blast at Circe. "Hiccup, if you've managed to completely throw off Circe's control, lick your nose for yes," said Matt, not expecting anything like that.

Hiccup glared before roaring...a mistake with Matt who tossed a flashbang orb in his mouth. That ignited the gas pocket inside of him, causing Hiccup to briefly expand with a muffled boom and smoke to leak out of his orifices. He let out a weak growl that can easily be translated to mean 'Ow...'

Matt jumped back before Morph shot over his head and Circe yelled "ENOUGH!" pressing a device that caused a high pitched whine to echo out, causing everyone that heard it to slump down

...

At the ship, the other experiments were starting to get a little antsy. Morph's shooting himself out of the cannon to go help might not have been the brightest move, but it put them all on the thought going to help themselves.

"The explosions stopped ages ago. If he'd won, he'd be back by now," said Draco.

"Even if he is wrapping up with Circe, the volcano's countdown is ticking," said Chip.

"Maybe he'd be back by now if lizard lips had helped," said Contrinus, glaring at where Dania was apparently meditating in her natural form.

"Why should she have helped?" said Draco bitterly, "It's not like she owes Matt anything."

"I can hear you, construct," said Dania with her eyes still closed.

"Yeah, but are you actually listening?" snapped Draco.

"I am...I am not a soldier...the crew I was with were...and I saw exactly what she did to them," said Dania, calmly.

"Let me guess, she turned them into actual lizards," said Chip.

"No, she had her guards execute them," said Dania calmly.

"Oh, I had assumed that Daya was part of that crew," said Chip, less harshly.

"His grandfather was..." said Dania adding in splitter, "And if you tell him a thing of that, I will rip your still beating heart from your chest."

"Ok, I'm not even gonna bother to ask about the other two," said Draco hesitatingly.

"Unrelated," said Dania coldly

"Still, I think we could have gone to help against Circe," said Contrinus, "I mean, we have so many things she doesn't know about. We should have pressed our advantage."

Dania said, "I will not see these people killed."

"I'm not saying we should all attack at once. I mean, someone has to make sure that everybody's able to get to safety afterwards," said Contrinus, "But we should have had more people going with Matt than what he went with."

Dania sighed. "Is this a feeble attempt to get me to aid you?" she said.

"Well, we could do a musical guilt trip number, but Matt strictly forbids it," said Draco.

"Attempts at doing musical numbers, particularly those specifically meant to invoke certain emotions, are punishable by keelhauling while in orbit and having to clean the entire ventilation system with your own toothbrush," said Chip.

Dania raised an eye ridge sat that before she said, "No...I will not."

"Fine, but you're not stopping us from going," snapped Contrinus.

Dania nodded, hearing them leave before she heard someone say "Isss it true?"

A human would most likely have jumped in surprise, but splitters are virtually mass-produced with stoicism. "How long have you been listening?" asked Dania.

Daya slithered out, "Long enough. Why aren't we helping them?"

"An entire Imperial attack squad attempted to destroy that witch," said Dania, "Only a small handful survived to be experimented on. No one can do better."

"This island will be destroyed and usss with it anyway," said Daya, sitting down next to her.

"Then it would be more prudent to have just left while we had as much of the crew as we can," said Dania, "The needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few."

"We cannot just leave them," said Daya desperately.

"Helping will only lead to more tragedy," said Dania, "They are giving their lives so that we may escape. Can we let that sacrifice be in vain?"

"If we don't help, we're letting theirsss be," said Daya.

"We have not enough resources to deal with Circe," said Dania sternly, "It has been proved that it would take an organized army to defeat her. We have only a ragtag collection of inexperienced would-be soldiers."

"It'sss better than running. You alwaysss told me ssstoriesss of how your people were honorable. What'sss honorable about thisss?" said Daya, standing up to leave.

"Honor without survival amounts to nothing," said Dania.

"Then I choossse that. At leassst I'll be able to live with that. I'm going to help Draco and his friendsss ressscue their friend," said Daya, bitterly.

"All you'll be doing is getting yourself killed as well," said Dania desperately.

"I don't care..." said Daya walking away, leaving Dania to stare helplessly.

...

"I never thought I'd walk back to this tomb," Dania muttered, walking towards what looked like a cave in a hillock. She was the only one who knew about this place. Everyone else had died and she didn't want to give the villagers false hope.

"System rebooted. Welcome, Medical Officer Dania. It has been 432 solar orbits since your last visit. I trust you are well," said a disembodied voice as the lights turned on.

"I...have been recovering," said Dania, referring more to her physical wounds than her emotional ones.

"I apologies but I have been unable to contact imperial command and scans indicate that no ships have entered this verse," said the computer sadly.

"I haven't been expecting any," said Dania.

"What are your orders, ma'am?" said the computer, Dania sighing before asking "Is my old gear still in working order?"

"I have been repaired your armor completely since you last removed it. Your weapons may need recalibration," said the computer.

"That'll do," said Dania.

...

The experiments and the few villagers that had followed peered out from the jungle at the villa to see several unconscious mercs being dragged away. "Told you it went wrong," Draco said.

"I would have thought that Matt would have had a lot more success," said Chip.

"You don't think Morph fubared the plan, do you?" asked Draco.

"No, Morph may be dim, but he couldn't screw up this epically. Maybe that did. That looks like something from Avalar," said Contrinus, pointing to a crystal spire on the roof.

Chip studied the crystal and said, "That looks like a sonic stun crystal. The Avalarians use them to incapacitate invaders. Where did she get one?"

"The same place they got those?" said Wilson, who had remained at the ship when the others had gone, pointing out several guards with Atlantean staff blasters

"Wow, the Atlanteans were really terrible at picking up after themselves," said Chip.

"Look, we gotta get in there but we're dead if we try anything. We'd need an army," said Wilson grimly.

"You're starting to sound like Dania," said Contrinus in an annoyed tone.

"I don't like this anymore then you guys. I'd still be some bug's lackey if it wasn't for the boss," snapped Wilson

"Which is why we need to rescue him and the others," said Chip, "If only we had a sonic pitch emitter. If we set it to the right frequency, we can shatter their crystal weapons and deprive them of a great advantage."

"I have something better," said a metallic voice behind them.

The group turned around in surprise to see an armored-up splitter. Given there were only two known splitters on this planet and this one being far too small and slender to be Xander, it was easy though astonish to guess who it was. "Dania?" asked Contrinus.

"What? You think they let civilian doctors on imperial cutters?" said Dania before several shots were heard, a trio of guards running forward.

"Halt, golem!" one of them snapped.

"I'm not a golem, I'm a cyborg," said Chip with irritation.

Dania said, "Am I right in saying you aren't going to surrender?" to the guards. The guards snarled before powering up their staffs. "Fine," sad Dania, a multi-barreled blaster on her shoulder opening up on them. The rounds quickly tore through the guards, whose armor were of a decidedly more basic quality. "CHARGE!" she called, the experiments and Daya staring in shock as the villagers charged out, following her forward.

Daya finally grinned and said "That'sss my grandma, that isss."

Draco stared between Daya and the charging Dania before faintly muttering, "How could I have missed the similarity?"

...

Circe watched as Matt and Astrid were both dragged in. "The pieces of the puzzle are finally falling to place," said Circe before turning to the guards and said, "If he tries to sing again, tranquilize him." Matt just smirked as Circe peered at him. "You are an unusual one: a mind like a hurricane, no order at all," she said.

"That's nothing, you haven't met the other residents yet," said Matt.

"It doesn't matter. I will break you like all the others. Now then, as for you, my dear, you seem to have something in your future protecting you from me, but will it protect you from him?" said Circe, smugly, looking over at Hiccup.

"You don't know much about dragons," said Astrid, "They don't like the taste of humans. They almost totally eat fish."

"Your dragons, yes. The cloak is its own type. And with my addition, it will kill what I wish it too," said Circe.

"Killing anyone, especially his friends, is completely against Hiccup's nature," said Astrid, "There's no way your cloak can make him bend that far."

"Really? Pet, blast the other one," said Circe, pointing at Matt who went "Wait, what?" Hiccup glanced at Matt before shooting a plasma blast at him. Astrid stared in horror was Matt was knocked flying and lay still.

"It's almost a shame," said Circe, "I wanted to unravel how the Shar-Khan physiology worked. Oh well, I suppose dissection can reveal most of it. His sister will have to provide the rest."

Astrid just stared in horror at Hiccup before Circe said "As you can see, he does what I want. Your friend is gone. Guards, take her and that...meat back to the cells."

"Mistress, aren't you going to feed her to the dragon now?" asked a guard.

"No, I think she needs time to think on how she could have avoided this," said Circe. The guard shrugged before unshackling Astrid, who was too numb to put up a fight.

...

Chloe glared, looking at Toothless who was also returning the glare. "Oh for god's sake, grow up," snapped Techo at both of them. Toothless glared at Techo and growled.

…

Kala sighed from where she was shackled. _"Look, blaming them won't help,"_ she said, looking to the other dragons for a little support

_"If they hadn't taken us here in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess,"_ growled Toothless.

_"And if we didn't come, Hiccup would probably be dead by now,"_ retorted Kala.

Toothless snapped, _"HE MIGHT AS WELL BE! THAT MONSTER UPSTAIRS IS DESTROYING HIM!"_

_"Wait, that other Night Fury is Hiccup?"_ asked Barf.

The other dragons stared at the Zippleback. _"Weren't you paying attention?"_ asked Stormfly.

_"I kinda thought he was Toothless's older brother and has been fighting over Kala to be his mate,"_ said Belch.

Kala glared. _"You didn't say that cause if you had, I'd have vaporized you,"_ she said calmly.

_"How can a two-headed dragon be so lacking in observation skills?"_ asked Hookfang.

_"With ease,"_ said Kala darkly before the door opened and the guards came in, dragging Matt and escorting Astrid. If Toothless had been in a bad mood before, that soon paled to a sunny disposition compared to when Kala started battering at the bars and screaming death threats. The other dragons stared as Kala screamed several unknown words that would no doubt be painful to Circe and for some reason, a broom handle before she calmed down

_"Geeze, I never heard a threat like that,"_ said Hookfang. Apparently the humans felt the same way as they had backed as far as they could from the dragons' cell.

Chloe however was sighing before Matt suddenly shot upright. "Starflame, I have a big enough headache already. Can you please not roar so loud?"

Starflame/Kala immediately tried to pull forward to kick Matt. Since she couldn't really reached him, Chloe unknowingly obliged by punching Matt in the face.

"I hate everything," groaned Matt before an explosion was heard.

Chloe temporarily ignored the explosion before saying, "Did you have to scare us like that?"

"Hey, I needed to play dead," said Matt, "Guards tend to let their guards down when they think they're only guarding a corpse."

Astrid however said weakly "You were hit by a Night Fury fireball. I saw Hiccup..." only for Matt to say "Plasma blasts just tickle me."

"It's true," said Chloe, "Me, Matt, and Kala have different elements we can manipulate and can't be hurt by. Matt's is plasma, mine's electricity, and Kala's fire."

Matt nodded sadly before another explosion was heard. "SOME PEOPLE HAVE HEADACHES!" he yelled

"Look on the bright side," said Chloe, "That almost assuredly means someone's coming to rescue us." Matt shrugged before looking at the window.

...

"MEEGA NALA QUEESTAAA!" called Draco, diving into a melee.

"Everybody, stay together!" called Dania, firing several blasts into the attackers.

"Allied psy signals detected, ma'am. Highlighting separating wall," said the ARX's comp in her ear.

"You may wish to stand back," said Dania.

Draco gave Dania an annoyed look and said, "Hey, do I undermine your orders?" Draco didn't bother to move...and as such was blasted onto his back as a sonic cannon demolished the wall down to the cells.

Morph looked up and said, "Hi guys. I was wondering what was taking you so long."

"What?" called Draco, deafened by the blast before a whistling noise was heard and a blue blast hit Morph.

The dragons were already busting the rest of the way through. Most of the work had already been done by the blast, but the bars needed to be bended out of the way. Matt was first out to see Hiccup circling. "Move it, let's go!" he called.

Morph was already back together. "Is it time for me to be stuffed down someone's throat now?" he asked.

"Yes..." said Matt, muttering a memo to apologize to Hiccup and throwing Morph at Hiccup. Somewhat fortunately, Matt hadn't informed Hiccup of Morph's anti-digestion ability and thus he was a little horrified when the dragon part of him snapped up and swallowed Morph without a second thought.

Matt was waiting for it to take effect when a blast knocked him on his front. Matt looked up to see the captain of the guards standing over him. "Ah, Mr. Pig, we meet again," he said.

"You won't win. We are leaving this island with our mistress," snapped the guard before jumping back as Matt lunged at him. Meanwhile, Hiccup had started to fly a little unsteadily as his stomach sent urgent signals to his brain.

"First off, nobody, and I mean NOBODY, jacks my ride," said Matt, "Second, what makes you think your boss is gonna drag a bunch of dead weight losers like you guys?"

"She promised!" snapped the guard before being floored by a punch.

"You ought to have learned by now how much her word is worth," said Matt.

The guard didn't even bother to get up before Morph landed on his head, followed by a dazed Hiccup. "Hey Matt, look what I found in there," said Morph, holding up a lynch pin.

Matt looked at the pin. "What the hell?" he asked before they looked over at Hiccup and the sparking amulet. "Hey Morph, you see that sparkly jewel thingy on that dragon's throat?" asked Matt.

"The one that's fastened to the spot on the other side of the throat where I found that lynch pin fastened?" asked Morph. The others looked as with a small 'clank' the amulet fell off.

Astrid blinked and said, "No way it was that easy."

"Well, at least we didn't have to go through the entire 'fighting the enemy within' thing again," said Matt.

Dania said, "No...he still needs to fight his way out."

"Should be a lot easier without Circe harping in his head now," said Matt.

Hiccup twitched at that and tail whipped Matt flying before lunging at Astrid. "I think his dragon side's still hungry," said Morph.

Astrid was staring as Hiccup growled. "Hiccup, you're free of that thing," she said.

Hiccup snarled and tried to snap down on her, but his jaw was kept from closing by a large metal hook. "Time to check for cavities," said Matt before turning to Morph and saying, "Remove this from your memory or I will use you for deep-sea bait."

"Remove what?" asked Morph, his familiar wall-eyed expression of obliviousness on his face.

Matt shrugged before flipping back and forcing Hiccup back. "Ok...time to snap out of it," he said, struggling. Hiccup wriggled like a catfish, but Matt had the advantage of leverage, for the moment anyways. "HICCUP! SNAP OUT OF IT!" yelled Matt, before being finally thrown off.

Astrid took the initiative and tackled Hiccup herself. She didn't have as much mass as Fishlegs, but Hiccup was still in an awkward upright position. Hiccup tried to pull free as Matt said, "Ok...hold him steady. I need a good aim for this."

"Okeydokey," said Morph before morphing into a large octopus-like experiment and wrapping Hiccup tightly in his tentacles.

"MORPH! BAD EXPERIMENT!" screamed Matt.

Morph blinked before shifting into a sheep-like experiment. Matt quickly covered his ears before he bleated. Hiccup twitched before falling asleep...along with everyone else bar Matt, Chloe, and Dania. "You'd think my team would have learnt by now," said Matt conversationally.

Dania glanced around and said, "Sleep inducement, effective. Though I feel that this hasn't won us the entire battle."

"No...let's go kill Circe," said Matt.

...

Circe sighed as her remaining guard aimed at the doors. She was especially furious as, not only had her control been ended but all she could hear was snoring along it. And even more frustrating, the sonic stun crystal had been destroyed so she couldn't rely on that.

On cue, the main doors exploded outwards, a hail of ion fire cutting down her guards. "Circe...for crimes against the imperial splitter emperor, I am here to arrest you," yelled a metallic voice before a splitter exo-suit stomped in with the two Atlanteans.

"And in the event the empire doesn't respond, or at least the right empire, we'll taking care of you ourselves," said Matt.

Circe, despite everything wasn't worried. "Dania...such a pleasure. You never visit, you never write," she taunted.

"Nothing to write on," said Dania dryly, "And I've seen the way you treat visitors."

"Very good...shall we get this over with? That volcano is due to explode soon," she said.

Matt shrugged "Fine by me." before the trio opened fire.

However, Circe's personal defense shield was still in affect and none of their shots hit. "Now it's my turn," said Circe before sending a blue fireball out at each of them.

Matt and Chloe were sent flying while Dania continued firing. "Not again...NOT AGAIN!" she snapped.

"My, you are a tough old reptile, aren't you?" said Circe before sending a blast into the floor, causing a shockwave to ripple out. The ground immediately gave way underneath Dania's mech, trapping her up to the waist. "Too easy. Now it's time to put you three out of my misery," she said before she had to step back as an axe hummed past her face.

She glanced at Astrid who raised up her axe again. "You come anywhere near them and I'll chop you apart," said Astrid.

Circe smirked as she sensed Hiccup coming round and his conditioning still trying to obey the last command...to catch a meal. "I don't think you will have the chance," she said calmly.

"I notice your shield thing doesn't stop my axe," said Astrid as she prepared to swing, "I guess you've never actually been in a real fight before."

Circe looked at Astrid before sighing and waving a hand, causing Astrid to be pinned against the wall. "Now then, my dear," she said with a smirk as Hiccup staggered in, Circe waving a hand and the door resealing just as Matt's team and some rebels ran into view. "Pet, it's time for you to carry out your orders," said Circe, "Make a meal of this girl and be quick about it."

Hiccup turned to look at Astrid before back at Circe, several whomphs heard as the rebels outside apparently got the other dragons to try and aid in blasting the door down. "You've been delaying this long," said Circe, "Finish her off now."

Hiccup whined at that, the eye color flickering, just as Circe could sense the magi field from the cloak starting to flicker. Circe tried to exert more control over Hiccup as she said, "Do not hesitate, pet, my commands are all that matter to you." Hiccup didn't seem to be listening just as the door gave way.

...

Kala and Toothless were first through at that, hearing Hiccup saying, _"You...you used me..."_ The two of them paused at that. It sounded very promising, but they didn't want to jinx it.

Circe snapped, "YOU ARE MINE! DO AS I SAY!"

Hiccup shook his head at that before growling, _"No...I won't let you hurt my friends."_

_"Shall we get her now?"_ asked Toothless.

_"Nah, let him get the first shot. He deserves it most,"_ said Kala.

Circe glared, her eyes glowing before she snapped, "You dare...YOU DARE DISOBEY!"

Hiccup snarled before snapping, _"I don't obey you anymore!"_ The words probably didn't cross the language barrier, but the fire shot he punctuated them with most certainly did.

Circe was knocked flying into the far wall, causing Astrid to drop. Matt, up on his feet noticed the other dragons and yelled "GET HER!"

The dragons quickly opened fire upon Circe, but her shielding deflected the flames. Circe smirked and said, "You pitiful creatures. There is no fire, in pure form or incased in metal, that can pass through my..." Suddenly, a shrill whistling was heard, almost like that of a steam locomotive. Matt screamed at that and ran away

The others looked puzzled at that before looking up and seeing Steampipe flying down for a landing. They quickly scattered to get away from the large dragon before he landed with a slight squelching sound due to his heavy belly. Steampipe looked around, wondering where his little screaming buddy was.

Circe stared before snapping "BEGONE, FOUL SERPENT!" Steampipe gave Circe an annoyed look. "I am the mistress of this island and I command you to-" started Circe but she was cut off when Steampipe spat out a torrent of water that completely covered her.

Everyone stared for a minute before the randomness of the past 5 seconds caused them to laugh, be they human or dragon. Circe was certainly less impressive now, her hair and robes all soggy and hanging limply from her. She glared at the group and snapped, "You dare make a mockery of me?!" She prepared to blast them with a fireball, but the spell couldn't ignite in her damp fingers.

Matt grinned at that, strolling forward. "Did someone blow a fuse?" he said, glaring at Steampipe who sensed that his chew toy wanted to do some business before they played before Matt peered past her to see another mauve cloak. "You made another?" he said.

Circe glared at Matt and said, "I don't have to answer of your questions."

"Then...let see how you look in it," said Matt in a different, more psychotic tone with red eyes before grabbing her by the throat and throwing her back. Circe was dazed by her head hitting the wall and was only beginning to regain her senses when she felt leather creeping up her arms.

'Matt' waved. "Enjoy the volcano," he said before blasting the doorway and collapsing it

...

Astrid kept talking to Hiccup, making doubly sure that he won't slip back into his feral mindset. Fortunately, Hiccup was able to talk back, showing he was recovering.

"This feels weird," Hiccup said, a little confused before they jumped as Matt blasted the doorframe, burying Circe, though he now smelled off to Hiccup now...more threatening. His crazy happy tone wasn't helping.

"Ok, job's done. Let's leave before we get an express delivery of molten rock," he said happily, clapping his hands together.

"We're just going to leave her there?" asked Astrid, a little appalled by the idea.

'Matt' laughed at that. "Who cares? Let her roast," he said cheerfully before twitching.

Dania glanced at Matt and said, "While I do not carry his...enthusiasm, he does have a point. That witch deserves to burn."

A shaking was heard before WARDEN said, "All personnel. Evacuate...seismics detect an explosion is imminent."

"No more time for talking," said Chloe, "Time to go."

...

The volcano had already turned the sky black, what looked like snow falling down. "Go, go, go! We are leaving!" yelled a trooper on the cargo ramp.

Everyone scrambled to get onboard. However, there was a bit of congestion when the dragons started boarding. Matt glared at Steampipe. "Sod off, you overgrown water pistol!" he snapped. Steampipe gave him an offended look and tried to waddle up the ramp, though it was clear he wouldn't fit inside. "NO! You'll be safe underwater so get back out!" snapped Matt. Steampipe gave a look that probably could be interpreted as 'Why didn't I think of that?' The large water dragon quickly started waddling to the beach.

"Take off, go, go, go!" said Matt as a deafening bang was heard and a black cloud was seen engulfing the far island where the volcano was A wave of volcanic ash started pouring down the mountainside. Matt had seen enough natural disaster films to know that the ash was more than enough to kill them all. "WARDEEEEN!" he yelled as the hatch closed.

...

The pyroclastic blast had all the results of a nuclear blast, shredding the islands and anything left on them: the cutter, the Bladestorm wreck, Circe's villa...but not before a winged shape burst forth and headed off in pursuit of the fleeing ship.

...

The ship shook like it was in an earthquake as the border of the pyroclastic blast caught it Anyone who wasn't buckled was tossed around, namely the dragons in the cargo.

After a minute the shaking stopped. Matt stood up first, "Ah...that was easy. WARDEN, take us home."

"That is not recommendable at this period of time," said WARDEN.

"I don't care...but take the scenic route. We dunno when that dumb cloak will fall off," said Matt before walking out.

...

While Hiccup was glad to have escaped the island, he wasn't happy that he still wasn't human yet.

"Do not worry, Mr. Haddock. My scans indicate that the cloaks unbonding. It should come off within 12 hours and the remaining side effects should mostly stop within 48," said Dania kindly.

"What other side effects?" asked Hiccup.

"You'll have temporary abilities similar to what we noted as the Shar-Khan from ancient records: simple transformative abilities. That will be gone in a day or two. Others may include lingual skills," said Dania calmly.

"You mean I can talk to dragons?" asked Toothless.

"For a while, Hiccup." said Dania, adding, "It may even be permanent."

"Well, I suppose that wouldn't be too bad," said Hiccup.

"True...I..." began Dania before a loud bang was heard.

Hiccup looked up and asked, "What was that?"

"Alert...hostile aerial unit," said WARDEN.

"With our luck, it's probably a wild dragon that's territorial," said Hiccup.

Dania said grimly, "Really? And where was it nesting? The island just exploded."

"And Circe probably would have known if there was a dragon nesting..." said Hiccup before remembering what Matt did before they left, "You don't think..."

Dania swore, "That idiotic..." before the rear hatch shrieked...and was torn off, a mauve dragon peering inside and snarling "You."

Dania quickly grabbed onto a safety bar on the wall as the air pressure threatened to suck her out. Hiccup had to dig his claws in to keep from being sucked out and he definitely didn't want to be anywhere near this dragon.

Astrid however wasn't so lucky, the amused dragon snatching her and holding her up. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy the consolation prize," she said before roaring in pain as several red blasts burnt into her side, a security turret and several spiderbots on the hill firing at her.

The dragon snarled before jumping back out of the ship, Astrid still in her grip. "Astrid!" yelled Hiccup before running forward and jumping out.

...

Matt winced as the ship shook again, their attacker flying in front. "Lock on with pulse cannons, knock her...belay that!" he snapped, spotting the hostage and heading over to the airlock with a sigh. The ash from the blast had reached even this far and was blocking the sun outside. "I hate bad weather; clouds, ash, killer dragons," he muttered.

There was a loud rumble of thunder outside before WARDEN said, "Electrical charge detected within clouds, voltage at 2000 and rising."

"Well, I get electrocuted anyway," Matt muttered, opening the airlock and letting the air suck him out.

...

The dragoness looked down at Astrid and said in Circe's voice, "You...you did this. I could have escaped. I could have been FREE!"

Astrid stared and said, "But you were still in that room. The lava should have buried you."

Circe smirked. "I am Asgardian...and now dragon too thanks to you," she said.

"You brought your own misfortunes on yourself," said Astrid, "If you had actually treated people like people, you wouldn't had ended up like this."

"You little humans. I don't care what the Allfather said. You were supposed to aid us!" snapped Circe before a blue blast and a larger plasma blast hit her.

Circe roared before turning to see Matt and Hiccup. "Hand over the girl and I'll only give you only half the tanning you deserve," called Matt.

Circe smirked as Hiccup came into an unsteady hover as well. "Oh, my dear ex-pet," she taunted before looking at Astrid. "You want her? Catch," she said letting go and causing Hiccup to dive while Matt snapped and flew at Circe.

He breathed a wave of plasma breath at her which she avoided by rising higher into the air. "You will perish!" she roared, spitting a much larger blast that sent Matt pinwheeling back.

Just then, she heard a loud humming in the air. She looked up to see the North Star focusing its cannons on her. "Oh no," she muttered before taking several pulse blasts into her chest, knocking her into the ash below.

Matt landed on the top of the ship like the figurehead from hell and coughed, "Game over. Thanks for playing."

...

However, Hiccup was still in the game. More specifically, he was still diving to catch Astrid. He was closing in on her, but he wasn't sure how deep the cloud was or how close to the ocean they were. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally managed to get beside her, nudging her so she landed on his back before beginning to pull up. However the problem was that the cloud had cleared and the ocean was now in sight...and getting closer.

He flapped his wings desperately, trying to remember what Toothless does in a situation like this. Finally his wings billowed back and his descent slowed, his feet skimming the water before he pulled up...just in time for something large, smoking to slam into the ocean behind him.

Astrid looked back and asked, "Was that Circe?"

"Hope so, I'm not sure if I could carry Matt back," said Hiccup.

...

It was a day later and Hiccup finally looked mostly human, apart from his eyes and suspiciously sharp teeth, though Dania said that those would clear up soon. Starflame for some reason had, after hearing Dania say that the language barrier would only work on some dragons, had spent some time trying to say something before spending the rest bashing her head on the floor.

However, the dragon-speaking ability was more limited than they had thought because while Hiccup could speak with Toothless and Kala before, he couldn't remember what they had said because he could only remember them speaking the dragon tongue.

"It was cool while it lasted, boy," said Hiccup, Toothless purring as Hiccup scratched him behind the ear. The ship's golem 'spiderbots' had repaired the hatch incredibly fast, allowing the kids to sit with their dragons though a few indigenous ones seemed to have sneaked aboard.

Hiccup was also taking the time to write a letter for one of the Terrible Terrors to carry back to Berk. He was careful to exclude...well, pretty much everything. He basically wrote that he was fine, but they had to stay in warmer climates for a while for the sake of his health.

They had almost found that out the hard way when he had collapsed shivering as soon as they had passed the north of somewhere the gang had called Italy. Luckily they had turned around quickly enough. For some reason the gang had been happy, Draco yelling something about 'holiday'. The plan was to cruise along something called the 'equator'. Hiccup wasn't sure what that mean, but it was definitely warmer than it ever got on Berk.

"Well...at least we get to go where no Vikings gone before," he said, absently to the Terrible Terror who shrugged and said "I don't care...too much eels." The dragon-talking power had its downsides, apparently since the Terrible Terrors were the easiest to talk to and they typically didn't have good conversation.

...

The volcano had turned into a smoking, or in the sea's case, a boiling area. Nothing could survive...

A claw burst out of the sea and a humanoid figure pulled herself onto a piece of debris that was floating. Circe coughed weakly before fumbling for the clasp on her neck. "No...NO!" she said desperately, pulling her hand back to see scaled claws.

The clasp was gone. At least part of it was gone. There was probably more of it under her skin, but the rest had been broken off, by breaking out of the villa or from the ship's cannon, she didn't know.

"No...NO...THAT...MORTAL!" roared Circe, shaking her fist skyward before she stopped. She would be patient...as she had always been. She would find that girl, take everything she loved, and then...maybe, she'd kill her.

* * *

There's another chapter. We're taking a brief trek through Greek mythology, namely a certain part of the Odyssey. Of course, there are a few twists, such as references to the Atlanteans and the Asgardians. And by Asgardians, I think you might be able to guess the tech-savvy versions I'm referring to.

Anyways, the next chapter will also be borrowing from another culture's mythology. From which culture? The only clue you'll get is that they're far, far away from the Norselands and are radically different from them. Tune in next week to see what happens and please review.


	8. Blood Plasma

**Voyagers Saga**

**Broken Nest**

**Chapter 8: Blood Plasma**

The Bladestorm was cruising along the equator. After an attempt to cross the Alps that caused Hiccup to go into thermal shock, it was decided that they stick to warmer climates until all the cold blood was out of Hiccup's systems.

"She was a sneaky bitch, I'll give her that," said Techo, looking at the readings from the medical bay taken when Hiccup had first passed out.

"Probably added that little safeguard to make sure Hiccup wouldn't try to fly home," said Chloe.

Techo nodded. "Just as well it'll wear off in a couple of days," he said before a beeping got his attention. "Hello...WARDEN, you picking this up?" he said.

"Yes, I've been monitoring and verifying for the last 10 minutes," said WARDEN.

"What is it?" asked Chloe, looking at an image of what looked like a green cloud.

"Rift energy. A rip engine was activated some time ago. You are looking at the energy that was originally put out by the burst," said WARDEN.

"Do we know how long ago that was?" asked Chloe.

"A few hundred years from the decay," said WARDEN, calmly.

"Hmm, might be worth investigating," said Techo.

"Investigate what? There's nothing over there," said Chloe, "It's like stopping to look at 20 year old skid marks."

...

Meanwhile, the kids and their dragons now had something in common...cabin fever. _"If I don't get out of this tin can I cannot be responsible for my actions,_" said Kala in a shaking voice, the other dragons keeping their distance except for Hookfang who was wondering why he was now missing a tooth.

_"Maybe we can try to tell the guys to let us stretch our wings for a bit,"_ said Stormfly.

Toothless nodded. _"Maybe...I don't want to be near her if she flips out again,"_ he said weakly.

_"If only we can get those little buggers to carry a proper message,"_ said Meatlug quietly. The dragons stopped as they remembered how the Terrible Terrors refused to go near Kala now after their failed attempt to tell Hiccup Kala's name.

_"Uh...maybe the kids will figure out we need some outdoor time on their own,"_ said Toothless.

_"I hope so..."_ said Stormfly weakly as Kala started gnawing on the barrel of one of the tanks.

...

Quite fortunately, Hiccup was talking to Matt about that subject. "I mean, flying in a ship from the future is cool, but I think we all need some time to get out and stretch," said Hiccup.

Matt was watching the feed of Starflame gnawing on a MAKO with horror. "Yeah," he said absently.

"I mean, we're close enough to land, aren't we? We could just take the dragons to fly for a while," said Hiccup.

"We'll land first. WARDEN says the ship still needs repairs from the volcano blast," said Matt.

"Ok, I'm pretty sure everyone will be anxious to walk about," said Hiccup.

"Ok...helm, head for the coast," said Matt, walking over to point out a coastline rapidly approaching. "Welcome to America," he said cheerfully

"Hah, we beat Leif Erikson here! In your face, history!" said Morph.

Matt glared and made a patting motion, causing Morph to glow and flatten. "NO SPOILERS!" snapped Matt.

...

"Draco, bushi bu. At least we're somewhere warmer," said Contrinus, the two sitting on the beach that the North Star had landed near.

"I know, but I still can't help but think about how easily Circe had us pegged. I mean, aren't we prepared supposed to be prepared for anything?" asked Draco.

"We're supposed to be prepared?" said Contrinus, nudging Draco with a friendly grin.

Draco, however, wasn't in the mood. "Circe had us all against the wall and we just narrowly slipped out. I don't think we've had a closer call," said Draco.

"What about that time NegaMorph snapped and put a repeated loop of Matt's singing on the ship intercom?" said Contrinus, shuddering.

Draco groaned and said, "I had to have my ears cleaned out twice."

"Well, we're in America before the Americans. We have good weather and no psychopathic Asgardians..." said Contrinus, happily before they both heard a happy whistling and a cut off scream and splash.

"Instead, we have an obsessive-compulsive sea dragon," said Draco dryly. There was a 'ptui' and a column of sand went off next to them, Matt out cold in the new crater. Draco shrugged and said, "Well, as long as we're on the beach..." He walked over and started shoveling sand over Matt.

...

Kala was just as happy, lying down on the warm sand with a content expression. _"This is the life. Sun, sea, sand and no psychopaths...that aren't on our team,"_ she said happily. Morph was nearby making a sand castle. He was about almost done when the spiderbots came over with a small battering ran and tiny siege ladders. _"Case in point,"_ said Kala gloomily.

"Hey, you guys can't wreck my castle, that's the dragon's job," said Morph before scratching his head and asking, "How am I supposed to get a dragon to wreck it?" Kala glared and spat a plasma orb at him. "Thanks Kala," he called.

_"Whatever..."_ grumbled Kala before realizing what he said and snapping, _"YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!"_

Morph said, "Aw...nice dragons don't growl." before vanishing as Kala snapped and blasted him.

_"Figures, the one time Morph actually remembers and Matt is..."_ Kala paused and looked around, _"Hey, where is he?"_

Toothless pointed an ear flap at where Matt's hair was visible under a pile of sand, a straw, whose other end was clearly and hopefully in his mouth, acting as an air hole while Draco and Contrinus continued adding more.

NegaMorph walked over to them and asked, "Are you guys burying Matt in the sand?"

"Yep," said Contrinus.

"Hold on a sec," said NegaMorph before walking away. He came back with a large flat stone and stuck in the sand a little further away. On it, it read, "Here lies Matthew Lynch. DIP."

Kala sighed at that. _"A day in the life of a mercenary,"_ she said before suddenly stopping as she sensed something. _"You smell that?"_ she asked.

Toothless sniffed before saying, _"I'm assuming you don't mean those little meat things those guys are attempting to cook. What are they called again?"_

_"Hot dogs."_

_"But they don't look or smell like dogs."_

_"It's another name for sausages, but that's not important right now."_

Toothless sniffed the air again and tensed. Blood.

_"Looks like our day at the beach is about to come to an end,"_ said Kala.

Everyone looked over as a line of men walked out of the treeline with the air of people presuming they have a certain win on their hands. "Uh oh," said Wilson under his breath, waving to the others to get their attention.

As they got closer, the mercs could easily see that these people were Aztecs, judging by their outfits and bladed clubs. Or at least some other Latin American indigenous culture who were just as unfriendly and bloodthirsty.

"Boss?" called Techo before jumping back as a small dune he had been standing on fountained up to reveal a dazed Matt.

"Is there a party going on?" asked Matt in a dazed tone before one of the Aztec warriors suddenly prodded him with his spear. "That's one," he said under his breath before saying "Can I help you?" before looking down to see the warning symbol that indicated the translators were waiting for the other guys to say something so they could translate.

However, the Aztecs didn't appear to be in a talkative mood, mostly glaring and holding up their weapons. "So...where'd you get those jaguar skins?" asked Matt. The warrior with the spear poked him again at that, causing Matt's grin to freeze before he said, "That's two. Say something you walking fur coat."

The Aztec said something that mostly translated into something uncivil before poking Matt hard again. Matt twitched at that before his grin got wider and he delivered a right hook to the surprised warrior before rugby tackling his pal. The others simply watched as Matt started beating the crap out of the second warrior before the others decided to charge. By then, the others had their weapons drawn. Though it seemed a bit overkill when they were dealing with spears and clubs.

However, just before the first shot could be fired, Draco finally got up into their view. The reaction was impressive as the warriors stopped in place, dropped their gear and immediately started groveling. Draco glanced around before asking, "Are we on a game show or something?"

"No, we're under attack and Matt's causing an incident again...poked three times," said Chloe, not taking her eyes off the warriors before she said, "They seem to like you."

"Well, what's not to like?" said Draco, causing a collective eye roll.

One of the warriors pointed at Draco, gibbering something before pointing angrily at Matt and making chopping motions.

Draco scratched his head before asking, "Anyone else get that?"

"I'm just guessing right now, but I think they want permission to chop up Matt," said Chip.

The experiments paused for a minute before Chloe snapped "GUYS! Tell them to lay off. Look," she said before heading over, "We didn't want to say this near the kids but Circe damaged the nanoforge. We're low on food. We'll need to trade some. Get em to take us to their settlement."

Draco shrugged before saying loudly, "Take me to your leader!"

Everyone groaned at that, even the warriors before their leader said, "Follow us, lord."

"Lord, I like the sound of that," said Draco.

"Why do I have a feeling this day is going to be full of nauseating ego overinflating?" asked Chip.

...

Matt had gotten the majority of the crew to remain at the ship while they went. "So...what's your capitol?" asked Matt, only to get a glare and Matt to grumble and say "Draco."

Draco didn't have to walk. He was being carried on a hastily-constructed litter that the Aztecs were carrying on their shoulders. He was definitely enjoying himself, to the increasing annoyance of others. However, Draco was willing to convey questions, if only because he was curious about them too. "Loyal subjects, you have not yet told us the name of your capitol city, which you are doubtlessly taking us to," he said in a regal manner.

"Surely you jest. Every city has heard of El Dorado," said one of the guards before looking around as, as a partial latent psychic, he appeared to hear half a dozen 'cha-ching' noises.

However, the dragon riders, whose knowledge about mythology was primarily centered on Norse, didn't quite get the reference. "What's so great about El Dorado?" whispered Hiccup to Matt.

"It's a city made of gold," said Matt excitedly.

The same guard glanced around again, swearing that he heard something similar to the 'cha-ching' noise.

"All we need is 300 gallons of chloroform and an earthmover and we're RICH!" said Matt before looking innocent as every one of the guards looked at him confused. "Uh...I mean...ooh, look, it's Chupy!" said Matt suddenly pointing.

The others looked and watched in horror as the wild chupacabra tackled Matt into the bushes before, to equal shock, they looked to see the two wrestling. "Huh, so this is the world that Chupy originally came from," said Chip, "I was wondering if we'd ever come across it one day."

"GET HIM OFF MEEEE!" screamed Matt.

Chloe sighed and said, "Alright." She grabbed the chupacabra and pulled, saying, "Let go of him before you get kr'ta poisoning." The chupacabra looked at Chloe before shrugging and attacking her instead.

Chip sighed and muttered, "This will take a while."

...

After the chupacabra had been chased off successfully, the gang had continued until they had reached a rise leading down into a large valley. The mercs didn't need to know what the yellow glow was as their money meters were already exploding.

Chip was also doing some scanning. "The metal deposits in this valley are phenomenal. There's some iron, tin, and copper here, but more precious metals like platinum, rhodium, silver, and..."

"GOLD!" snapped Matt with a manic look before coughing to calm himself.

"Indeed," said Chip, "There are even a few spots that look very positive for precious stone deposits. This all seems rather odd. This shouldn't be geologically possible, not all in one place. And the soil wouldn't have nutrients to provide all the..." He noticed that Matt and Chloe weren't fully paying attention. "You two aren't going to give in to your hoarding instincts, are you?"

"What are you golding on about?" said Chloe distantly.

Chip sighed and said, "Just try to remember what your real priorities are. I don't think a pair of pillaging dragons would be welcome here."

"Oh be gold," said Matt distantly, he and Chloe walking with twitches down the road, Kala muttering _"This is gonna end bad-GOLD! Hmm..."_

"Why is it that dragons are so particularly susceptible to gold fever?" asked Chip, "Can you guys make any sense of it? Guys?"

Everyone else was staring, even Draco who now had little dollar signs of iris's. "Does Matt's ship still have that giant nano storage unit?" he asked quietly.

Chip rolled his eye and said, "I suppose being part machine keeps from feeling as much gold lust as you lot. Cortez will probably have nothing left to pillage when we're done here."

"PILLAGE!" snapped Mat, now running down the path towards the city.

...

The gang caught up to see Matt barely being held down by a pile of guards at the gates. "Help! We need more guards. He's insane!" yelled one guard.

The group was awestruck about the design of the city. It was a perfect monument of Meso-American architecture that would cause most archeologists to weep with joy. And the fact that almost everything was golden didn't hurt either. "Isn't it the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?" asked Astrid.

"I'm having trouble seeing that," said NegaMorph, "My eyes have all been replaced by huge dollar signs."

A second later, a thrown guard landed on NegaMorph as Matt's dragon side took a sledgehammer to his self-control and he transformed, clawing at the walls like a lunatic. "Urgh...we can't take him anywhere," sighed Chloe.

However, the natives were greatly impressed by Matt's transformation and immediately all started kowtowing and muttering apologies and prayers. However, while they were clearly doing in out of reverence, Chloe could see an undercurrent of fear.

Draco stared at this before yelling "NO FAIR...!"

"Well, it's not like they've been worshipping you for long," said Contrinus. Draco just stared before wailing skywards.

...

Matt had lost some of his twitchiness after a few minutes and Kala decided to try her luck while he was all dragony. "Hey girl. MY GOLD! How are you feeling?" said Matt, getting a brief bug eyed expression as he screamed the gold part.

_"Matt, is there any chance you can talk to other dragons while you're in dragon form?"_ asked Kala desperately.

"Aw that's nice," said Matt, clearly not understanding a word

Kala snarled with frustration and was about to blast him one for getting it wrong again when several warriors suddenly holding spears up against her.

"Hey! Cut that out!" snapped Matt, hitting one guard on the head and riving him into the ground like a stake. The others guards quickly dropped their spears and started begging for forgiveness.

"Oh, sod off, the lot of you," said Matt, pointing them to go away before he got an idea to cheer up Draco. "Erm...I've got to go look after...erm...Quetzalcoatl…yeah, that's right. I'm his mate," said Matt innocently. The guards gave him a very odd look and Matt quickly realized the awkward literal meaning of what he said. "Guardian, I mean guardian," he said quickly. The guards nodded slowly before backing up and running off.

...

Draco glared at Matt. "So they now expect you to guard me...cause you told them I was one of their chief gods," he said dully.

"Yeah, so what?" asked Matt.

"Uh, aren't heretics who are found impersonating Aztec gods end up being sacrificed to the 'real ones'?" asked Draco worriedly.

"We look like the real thing though," said Matt knowingly.

"Yeah, but we can't act all the way like the real thing," said Draco, "Unless you know how to change the weather or whatever."

"I doubt they really believe that," said Matt.

"You know they're gonna demand miracles from us," said Draco.

"Don't be silly," said Matt, waving a paw dismissively.

"Hey, Matt, why haven't you turned back?" asked Draco suspiciously.

"Uh, no real reason, I guess I'll just..." started Matt as he focused on changing back only to have no physical reaction, "Uh oh."

"Why uh oh? I don't like it when you uh oh," said Draco worriedly.

"I think I'm stuck," said Matt terrified.

"Stuck? How can you be stuck? You should be in full control of your transformation," said Draco, starting to sound panicked.

"I dunno...I dunno!" yelped Matt before saying "I gotta find Chloe."

...

Hiccup and the others had also gone exploring the city...mostly because any Viking near this amount of gold would start getting itchy fingers. Hiccup was trying his best to be the responsible one, but the others were listening to him with half an ear at best.

The dragons however were definitely paying attention to the shinies...not helped that Kala was getting serious twitches. _"Gold...gold..."_ she said as she aimlessly trudged along.

_"She's lost it,"_ said Meatlug gloomily.

_"She's almost like a Smokebreath,"_ said Stormfly.

_"A Smokebreath for gold,"_ said Hookfang sadly before saying _"Snotlout's hardly better, that's the 5th paving slab he's stolen."_

_"Uh, won't the guys here be mad about the humans taking their gold?"_ asked Belch.

_"Pretty much,"_ said Toothless before saying, _"I don't see Hiccup stealing any gold." _However, Stormfly noticed Hiccup pocketing a small lump of gold, practically a pebble. Toothless turned at that and sighed, _"I don't believe it."_

_"Humans are greedy, what do you expect?"_ said Barf.

They were about to talk when the group was nearly ran down by a small group of people heading for the central pyramid with several chained people in tow. _"What are they doing?"_ asked Meatlug.

_"I'm not sure, but it reminds me of how we used to be kept in the arena,"_ said Stormfly with a growl.

The sound of wings got their attention at that, them looking up to see a flight of dragons overhead, similar in build to Matt's other form. _"Who are those guys?"_ asked Barf.

_"Maybe they're Matt's distant relatives,"_ said Belch.

_"I dunno..."_ began Kala, saying _"They smell like trouble..."_

_"They certainly do,"_ said Toothless with a growl, _"And they're definitely not from here."_

...

Matt had also spotted the dragons...more like they had spotted him, one of them peeling off and flying towards him.

"Uh, Matt, is it my imagination, or is that the same kind of Avalarian dragon that you are?" asked Draco.

"It's not," said Matt as the dragon, a dragoness, landed neatly. "I have not seen you before. State your name," she said with a commanding air, the voice of someone used to having their orders obeyed instantly.

For once, Matt was having a hard time thinking of what to say. He had never met another plasma dragon like him before. There was Dr. Alayshia, but he hardly counted. On Avalar, he's seen practically all the different varieties of dragons, but he was the only plasma dragon around.

The dragoness snorted and said, "Are you simple? I said state your name."

Seeing how Matt seemed to be too shocked to speak, which was shocking in of itself, Draco decided he better say something. "Uh, I am the great Quetzalcoatl," he said in his most regal tone, "And this is-"

The dragoness said coldly, "You look nothing like my father." before she blasted him.

Fortunately, Draco had been designed to withstand intense plasma blasts. But that didn't mean it didn't still hurt. "Ow..." moaned a crispy Draco before falling over.

Matt said horrified, "That was uncalled for..."

The dragoness snorted and said, "He deserves worst for daring to imposter a god. Now for the third and last time, what is your name?"

"Captain Mathew Lynch," said Matt, emphasizing the rank coldly.

"From the sound of your name, you must be one of the forefathers," said the dragoness, "And by the placing of your rank, you must be one of the higher members of their military."

"Forefa...I mean, yes. The person you blasted is one of my most trusted officers," said Matt, smoothly.

The dragoness gave Draco an unimpressed look and said, "You should keep them in better line and not let them act so blasphemously."

"And you should be careful who you blast," said Matt, adding, "Name and rank."

"My name is Tlazoteotl and...I have no rank. No one has been officially given a rank yet," said the dragoness.

"Fine...Tlaz. How long have you been here?" asked Matt.

"I was hatched here, we all were. But that was many, many, many years ago," said Tlaz.

"Oh? How'd an Avalarian dragon get to Earth? This isn't even the right Earth," said Matt.

"Avalar? That's the mother world, isn't it?" asked Tlaz.

"Erm...yes," said Matt.

"You must speak with Xipe Totec," said Tlaz, "He is the king here and he will wish to know what the forefathers want with us."

"Erm...ok," said Matt, a little confused.

Draco however said, "Matt, I smell a rat here. I wouldn't…" only to be tail whipped.

Matt glared at Tlaz and said, "I must ask that you refrain from hurting my officers. If they're guilty of some misconduct, I will be the one dealing out punishments."

"Very well, this way. The daily offering will be soon and I am sure you will want to replenish," said Tlaz.

Matt and Draco gave each other uneasy glances. If these dragons were the 'gods' here, then the offerings would probably not something they'd want to partake of.

"Why do you hesitate? I can sense from here that you are hardly close to full strength," said Tlaz

"What do you mean not close to full strength?" snapped Matt, "I've got more-" Draco nudged Matt to keep him from spilling too much. "Er, that is, I've fought a mighty foe recently and I'm resting after a hard and bloody battle."

"No, your energies are diminished. You barely fight at full strength," said Tlaz, gazing closely.

Matt growled but he could think of any conceivable excuses. After all, he's never been around any other plasma dragons before and he really didn't know what they were fully capable of. And considering he was pretty powerful when he was 'hardly close to full', it would be worthwhile to see what he could do when 'fully-charged'.

"This way, my captain," said Tlaz smoothly

As Matt and Draco followed after her, Draco whispered, "You're not really gonna-"

"Do what?" hissed Matt.

"You know, eat the...you-know-what," said Draco, "I mean clearly you wouldn't, but peer pressure can be..."

"Eat what?" hissed Matt as they followed Tlaz.

"Well, you do know what the Aztecs used to 'feed' their gods, right?" asked Draco.

"Hearts...wait, what? Miss Tlaz...are we going to eat hearts?" said Matt.

"Of course, plump and still pumping," said Tlaz with satisfaction, "Isn't it the most filling meal?"

Matt winced. "Is there an alternative? Erm, command doesn't look kindly on heart eating. It's erm...unhygienic."

Tlaz gave him an odd look and said, "Then how are they expecting us to keep our strength up? Is not our power derived from the flesh and blood of our enemies and subjects?"

"Not the last time I checked. I just explode them," said Matt.

Tlaz looked at him with befuddlement and said, "Well, you need to gain your full strength somehow. Perhaps you'd like to sample the bones. I know it's only for dogs, but you might get some of your full power back."

Matt looked at Draco who mouthed someone having their head removed...translating to what would happen should they be rumbled by what were basically 100 Matthews. "Sounds...tasty," said Matt with a wince.

Tlaz nodded and said, "As you wish, Captain. In time, you'll discover that flesh is better to eat than anything else." Matt and Draco turned to go before Tlaz said, "You lost someone, Captain...not long ago either."

Matt stiffened and he said slowly, "What makes you say that?"

"Any female could tell. It's in your eyes," said Tlaz smoothly.

Matt felt more than a little annoyed when he said, "If you must know, I have lost someone, LITERALLY lost someone. And I'm fully intent on finding her again."

"If she has been gone this long...then she was obviously a fool," said Tlaz in a honey-layered voice

Matt spun around and snarled, "You don't know anything about her! You have absolutely no basis to make any kind of discriminating remarks about her. So I highly suggest you not speak ill of her anywhere near my hearing range."

Tlaz, despite everything, didn't look frightened. "My apologies," she said bowing and her eyes glinting in a way that made Draco's horns quiver very briefly.

Matt growled and said, "C'mon, Draco, we're eating out."

"Yeah...I think that's a good idea," Draco said, noting how Matt briefly had the same glint.

...

Sometime later, Chloe found Matt at the riverbank near the city. "Matt, I don't think this place..." she started when Matt turned around, showing he had a bit of blood on his chin. "Oh, please tell me that didn't come from where I think it came from," she said.

Matt said, "It's just some big water rat I saw," gloomily.

Chloe gave a sigh of relief and said, "Doesn't sound particularly appetizing to me, but it's a lot better than what those other dragons were eating."

"They didn't see, did they?" said Matt, worried.

"Fortunately, no," said Chloe, "As soon as we realized what was about to happen, we made them look away. Those kids will probably have to deal with bad enough stuff without seeing a human sacrifice."

"The dragons didn't...did they?" said Matt.

Chloe shook her head, "Not exactly...a couple did but the others looked like they were in a trance, breathing in a gas."

Matt made a face of disgust and said, "Ok, new plan, we need to grab whatever souvenirs we want and get out of here ASAP."

Chloe looked up at Matt and said, "Fine, turn back and let's split. I suspect NegaMorph stole a building already."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," said a voice. The two siblings looked around for the source and noticed that time seemed to be slowing down all around them.

Matt rolled his eyes. "I haven't seen you in a while. How can us mere mortals help you?" he said, turning to see half of the duo's resident Ancient stalkers.

Cydra was floating there in his usual computer-screened cloak. However, the glow from the screens seemed darker than usual. "Your team has a mission to complete here. One that this world's fate depends on," said Cydra in a serious tone.

"You broke our ship, didn't you?" said Matt icily.

"If you are referring to the guardian drone that you destroyed, I was not involved," said Cydra, "It was constructed to make sure no other space traveler would discover this planet's secrets. Circe was one, this gilded city is another."

"And those guys are number 3?" snapped Matt, pointing a claw skyward where a trio of plasma dragons flew.

Cydra looked up and said, "Actually, they were the main secret here. Though it appears that the rip engine exhaust had altered the reality of this valley to produce the precious metals the natives used to build this city. Even still, I wouldn't have expected them to become the head of a theocracy." He said the last word with much contempt and disgust.

"What are they?" growled Matt with a furiousness that made Chloe jump back a bit.

"Well, I see that a history lesson is needed," said Cydra, "Have you ever wondered why you've never seen any other plasma dragons on Avalar?"

"I never really wondered. I presumed it was the nanites hybridizing the EXP in my blood," said Matt.

"There's a bit of truth to that. Though it is more likely that your nanites influenced the EXP," said Cydra, "Well, I suppose you two haven't heard much Avalarian history that predates Malefor or the Atlantean conflict."

"I'm all ears," said Matt, lying down.

"Well, this is all started about an age before Malefor, more or less," said Cydra, "In the earlier years of the Avalarian civilization, dragons were a lot more connected to their elements than how they are today. It was said that they were direct descendants of the elementals that once roamed Avalar."

Matt nodded. "Like that lava monster," he said.

"A darker version, but yes," said Cydra, "Well, while most of the dragons were satisfied with their lower level of power, there were some who felt that dragons should remain the most powerful creatures in the universe. They soon formed a cult that was determined to bring dragon power back to the 'golden years' of their civilization."

"Let me guess, the Atlanteans didn't like their top spot being challenged," said Matt.

"This was actually quite some time before the Atlanteans found Avalar," said Cydra, "As such, the cult were able practice arcane rituals and selective breeding for quite some time before anyone found what they were doing. Eventually, they managed to produce a new race dragon that can channel energy in its purest form."

"Then how did you know?" said Matt.

"The Avalarians kept very good records, even though a fair amount was destroyed during Malefor's first war," said Cydra, "Anyways, these new dragons, called the sun dragons, were considered the pinnacle of draconic evolution. However, while physically they were extremely impressive, they had not developed very well mentally, mainly being told that they were the 'chosen race' and 'the greatest in the land'. Though extremely full of themselves, they were tolerated by the other dragons until an ugly incident when a particularly self-absorbed brute was spurned by a fire dragoness."

"They went warlike on the others?" said Matt distantly.

Cydra nodded, "Yeah... Fortunately, while the sun dragons were powerful, they were vastly outnumbered by all the other dragons. The sun dragons and their cult were destroyed, but there were still a few unhatched eggs that were left. And I hope you two have learned about the custom of dragon eggs by now."

"Yeah...the cave," said Matt.

"Good, however, those eggs had already been fertilized and so the only thing to do was to put them in stasis and let them hatch again after the world had healed," said Cydra, "However, Malefor upset that plan. Fast forward to when the Atlanteans made contact and opened negotiations with the Avalarians. But even then, they were always looking for a new weapon to combat their enemies and they managed to find the cave where the sun dragon eggs were hidden.

"Now at the time they had just made first contact. Malefor was already on edge and despite warnings, a science team went in to harvest DNA. I'm ashamed to say Malefor's egg was the one they wanted. Of course, the dragon elders gave permission later on...but by then the eggs were out of their field.

"The sun dragons were hatched and placed through even more selective breeding, along with extensive genetic tailoring. Eventually, the first clutch of plasma dragons were created. They are much like you are now, but while the sun dragons' heads were filled with their followers praises for their greatness, what was mostly in the heads of the plasma dragons was where to fire and who to attack."

"You had your own McNeil," said Matt.

Cydra nodded, "When the council cottoned on, a warship was sent in. The troopers had orders to secure the research and return the sun dragons to the Avalarians for deprogramming. They were late. The science team found out too late that a dragon does what it wants."

"So how did these dragons get here?" asked Chloe.

"I'm getting to that part, don't rush the story," snapped Cydra.

"Fine, geez," said Chloe.

"Well, after a bloody struggle, the plasma dragons were captured, but there wasn't really anything anyone could do for them. The elders demanded the grown dragons be put down. But there were still plenty of eggs that had yet to hatch. The elders decided not to leave destiny up to chance and as part of the treaty, the plasma dragon eggs were to be hidden on a faraway world where no one would attempt to abuse them. And that place was here. The term 'was' is much more apparent now."

"They must have dropped on the city," said Matt.

"More like the city dropped on them," said Cydra, "There was an underground base here once, but the Aztecs dug it all up. They found the eggs which they thought were the 'seeds of the suns' and managed to hatch a few. Naturally, the dragonlings were mistaken for gods and raised as such. And you can see what it did to their dispositions."

"Gave them egos?" said Matt, before wincing, "Urgh...my head."

"Oh dear, I had a feeling that would kick in soon," said Cydra, "One of the few things the plasma dragons carried over from the sun dragons was their ability to be fueled by praise. Matt usually has enough jabs and disrespect from your crew to keep his power and ego in check, but here he'll be more susceptible to the corruption that has befallen the other dragons and they'll want him even more."

"Oh...that's why Tlaz came on to me?" Matt asked, Chloe noting his eyes were getting the same golden sheen as the others.

"Yes, I wasn't quite accurate when I said these were the dragons that first hatched. They're actually their grandchildren," said Cydra, "The dragons kept control of how many eggs were laid and hatched and now all the dragons here are siblings and cousins and they'll want new blood."

"Oh hell no," said Matt, before wincing again, Cydra saying "In a few days, you won't care unless we get you away from these worshipers."

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Chloe.

"Did I not tell you that there's a mission you must perform?" asked Cydra, "There are still many original eggs that have not hatched yet. Even if Matt were to 'contribute', the dragons will eventually be forced to hatch more and the grandchildren won't be nearly as conservative as their ancestors. In time, the dragon population would grow too large and they'd spread out from this valley to conquer the rest of the Americas and then the world. Like an infested appendix rupturing."

"Lovely image," said Matt weakly.

Cydra said "However, those eggs could be saved. The old base should have a null portal that'll connect to the nearest active Avalarian colony," said Cydra before adding "The other's a self-destruct."

"So we just get the eggs away from here and then blow everything up?" asked Chloe.

"Well, you also need to get the people to leave this valley," said Cydra, "Though they do really deserve to be trapped here, the timeline requires them to become nomadic for the next few centuries."

"Ok. I could sing," said Matt, taking a deep breath.

"Okay, okay, they don't deserve that much," said Cydra quickly, "Try appealing to their superstitious nature. Make it seem like the fates decreed it would be a very good idea to leave this valley quickly. I'm sure you have the resources to make that happen."

"Yeah...but first, I'd like my thumbs back. Don't say you can't. Chloe told me how you made an escape pod out of nothing," snapped Matt.

"Yes, we ancients are quite capable at transmuting lesser beings. Very well then, you probably need as few distractions as possible anyways," said Cydra before putting a hand on Matt's forehead.

"Is this really all it ta-CHEIJWAFUWEUFIHER!" said Matt, his eyes spinning as he gibbered nonsense before turning back. "What a RUSH!" he said dizzily.

"Be cautious, the dragons here will try to drag you down to their level of depravity and your instincts will be willing to aid them," said Cydra, "You must never lose track of what you truly value and who your real friends are."

"Blargle," managed Matt dizzily.

Cydra shook his head before turning to Chloe and said, "Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't stay with the other dragons for too long. Especially not Tlazoteotl and Xipe Totec."

"Why those two?" said Chloe.

...

Draco was half asleep as he shot into the air at a yell of "WHAT?" from Chloe's direction.

"I never touched it!" yelped Draco, not fully sure what he was referring to.

Morph said, "Oh, it's just an off scene thing." causing the others to be confused.

...

Cydra backed up under the furious electric glare of the now dragonfied Chloe. "She will not get within 30 feet of my brother," she snarled.

"Yes, but make sure he doesn't go to her. You know how males can be easily...allured," said Cydra. A lightning bolt earthed next to him and he said smoothly "But it's unlikely that will happen." managing to stop himself screaming in terror.

"Yeah right, it's not gonna happen," said Matt, "She's not even my type by a longshot."

"Your mating instincts would say otherwise," said Cydra. Chloe grinned at Matt's expression at that as he stuttered a bit. Cydra said, "The patch won't work again. If he gets stuck, get him out of the valley and away from the rift."

"Of course," said Chloe.

"Good," said Cydra as he started to fade away, "Then, I think what you need to worry about now is what your young friends are getting into."

"Wait, what?" said Chloe before Cydra finished vanishing.

...

While Hiccup had been trying to keep them in line, especially about that messy event they weren't allowed to watch, the others were quickly sinking into the Viking stereotype about pillaging. It wasn't helped that Matt's demon member of the crew, NegaMorph was helping them plan how to steal the buildings easily.

"Ok, the trick is to get at the mortar between the bricks to loosen them out. Don't throw the mortar away, I bet it has bits of silver in it," said NegaMorph.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," said Hiccup.

"C'mon kid, live a little. Just because you Vikings stopped warring with dragons doesn't mean you need to give all Viking stuff. Your father would want you to be looting at this age," said NegaMorph before pulling out the brick he was working on.

"It's not that," said Hiccup, cautiously.

NegaMorph turned and snapped. "Then what IS IT? Uh oh," he said as he heard an ominous creak and the wall tipped over on him. "Don't even say it," said his hand mouth, the only part poking out.

"Dibs on his share," called Tuffnut.

"I'm not dead, smartass," said NegaMorph, melting out from underneath and reforming. "On the plus side, lotsa gold...OH NO!" he said, moaning as the street gave way and their gold vanished.

"Easy come, easy go," said Fishlegs.

"It ain't goin' that easy!" snapped NegaMorph before jumping down the hole.

"Oh boy," said Hiccup, the group peering down.

...

Kala looked down and back at Toothless. _"They're gonna go down the hole. You do realize that, right?"_ she said deadpan.

_"I'd have suspected the twins to jump down right after him,"_ said Toothless.

_"Just wait for it,"_ said Kala carefully before, on cue, the twins immediately jumped down after NegaMorph, a yell of pain indicating he had been the crash mat

_"The rest are gonna go down, we better go after them,"_ said Toothless. Kala nodded, loping forward and diving down after NegaMorph.

The rest soon followed, Hiccup pausing to gather some torches for Toothless and Starflame to light. The first torch revealed that the tunnel was a smooth almost perfectly straight tunnel, indents at regular intervals. It didn't look like the Aztecs' work since the tunnel wasn't gold nor studded with jewels.

"Doesn't Matt have those on the doors of his ship?" asked Hiccup, poking at the runes. As soon as he pushed one of the buttons, every indent lit up one after the other until the corridor was lit up like it was outside. Several screeching crackles coming out of the air.

NegaMorph had packed away his gold by then and was able to turn his attention to the hallway itself. "Huh, well what do you know?" he remarked. What looked like a translucent red wall shot over the gang and their dragons at that before after a second it stopped on NegaMorph. "That's probably not good," said NegaMorph.

A tiny hatch opened and the words smallest pipe slowly whirred out. NegaMorph looked at the little pipe before laughing and saying, "Really? That's the best defense they could put in here." He kept laughing up until the pipe shot something out that made his head explode. The others jumped back as the pipe whirred back again, somehow putting out the air of smugness.

"I think we should go..." began Astrid before they looked up to see something blocking the hole. "...out," she finished. The buzzing crackle came out of nowhere again.

NegaMorph staggered before regrowing his head again. He looked upward to the resealed exit and said, "Figures as much. Atlanteans put security over everything."

"Atlanteans, are those the guys who made you and Matt's weapons?" asked Astrid.

"The one and the same. I'm guessing that crackling's the base computer saying something. Let me have a look," NegaMorph said, spotting a crack and peering at it before finally pressing something together and a voice said "State identification."

"Uh...salvage corps?" tried NegaMorph.

"Not recognized. State identification," said the voice, a stern anger coming to the voice.

"Uh, clean-up crew?" asked NegaMorph.

"Not recognized. Alert. Hostiles have breached quarantine," said the voice harshly, a wailing noise heard.

"Kids, it's time to move," said NegaMorph.

The others didn't need telling, Toothless and Kala spitting blasts upward. "Warning...bulkhead in sector 15 breached," said the choice as the dragons grabbed their riders and took off.

NegaMorph scrambled to get out, but the replacement bulkhead snapped down on his tail. "Ow...OH COME ON!" he snapped, stuck in place before a faint 'whomph was heard and he seemed to wince.

NegaMorph pulled what was left of his tail out, black slime leaking from it before it regrew. He may be able to regenerate from the smallest of parts, but being blown up still hurts. "I hate Atlanteans," he muttered before noticing the kids still there. "What...is...it?" he said, noticing the dozen or so plasma dragons.

NegaMorph had seen Matt ticked off in his dragon form plenty of times but these guys managed to trump him. Perhaps it was the fierce golden glow of their eyes or maybe it was the way their breaths stank of blood. They immediately parted to let a female through. "Have we been nosing around, humans?" she said deceptively calmly.

"Uh, nosing? No, we just found a hole in the ground," said Hiccup.

"Oh I know...and I think you need to come with us," said the female pleasantly.

"Now, now, I'm sure that falling into a hole isn't a crime," said NegaMorph.

"But vandalism is," said another dragon, noticing the large gap in one of the nearby walls.

NegaMorph gulped at that. "Would you believe it happened by itself?" he said. The dragoness glared and NegaMorph felt his form quivering by itself. He clutched the sides of his head and snapped, "Cut it out!"

The dragoness grinned at that. "A plasma based lifeform, this should be fun," she said, before her eyes flashed yellow.

NegaMorph suddenly found his torso being stretched out like a rubber band. "Hey, stop it!" he yelled.

"Tell me what you are and people are doing here," said the dragoness calmly.

"Minding our own business," said NegaMorph.

"Wrong answer, try again," laughed the dragoness, her eyes glowing brighter.

Hiccup yelled, "Stop it! We really did find it by..." before a low level blast knocked him off his feet.

"Know your place!" snapped the dragon that had spat it, his fellows snarling.

"Don't mess with those kids," said NegaMorph, "If Lynch knows you've hurt them, you'll be in real trouble."

"Good...if he is to be a welcome member of our flight, he needs to cut his weaker side's ties," said the female dragon.

"If you think you'll get him to join you, you're crazier than you look," said NegaMorph.

"He is one of us. His blood will do the work for us," said the dragoness.

"He's more than all of you times 5," said NegaMorph.

"Really? He will break. My sister will see to that. You, however, will get front row seats to the next ceremony...except you, one of plasma...goodbye," she said before seemingly vaporizing him. The kids stared in shock as NegaMorph's coat and hat became shadowy dust and fell in a slow shower.

"Take them away...and tell my sister it is time to make her move," said the female.

One of the dragons paused and said, "Maybe we shouldn't destroy them so quickly. Lynch may become terribly angry if they are harmed without 'just cause'."

The dragoness pondered this before saying, "Then we shall give them a fair chance in the court."

...

"They were WHAT?" snapped Chloe, Tlaz sitting in front of them.

"Caught trespassing and vandalizing," said Tlaz, "The young ones are to be sent to the court shortly."

"That's crazy. You can't lock them up," snapped Matt.

"They shall get their chance to earn their freedom," said Tlaz, "One of your...agents is discussing how their trial is to go."

"No...you'll let them go NOW!" growled Matt, his human form shimmering.

Tlaz smirked and said, "Perhaps if you made it worth my while, I'll put in a good word for them."

"Let them go or I will reduce this city to ash," growled Matt.

"In your frail form? You couldn't burn down a tree," said Tlaz.

"You know what I can do, Tlaz. Don't test me," said Matt.

"Your friends won't be in prison for long," said Tlaz, "Their trial is to start at noon."

"I know what the penalty for guilty is though. You will release them or else," snapped Matt.

"Have you no faith in your friends, Captain?" said Tlaz mockingly, "If they are truly without sin, then the gods would allow them to win."

"You harm a hair or scale on them and I will destroy this entire city from orbit," said Matt.

Tlaz gave him a serious look and said, "Whatever fate befalls them will be of their own making."

"No...it will be yours...HAND THEM OVER!" said Matt, transforming as he yelled the last part and finding himself snout to snout with Tlaz.

Tlaz simply smirked and said, "I had a feeling your willpower wouldn't hold out for much longer. You really should stop fighting your true nature. We belong on the same side."

Matt growled and, despite Chloe yelling out in shock, he lunged at her, pinning her down and threatening to bite her throat out. Tlaz didn't seem to notice the danger and said in a sultry tone, "Yes, you just want to dominate me, don't you? You want to show that you're stronger and superior, like a real dragon." She wrapped her tail around Matt's.

Matt growled at that before pushing himself away, "I wouldn't if we were the last dragons on earth."

Tlaz gave a disappointed pout before saying, "I'm sure you'll change your mind at some point. After all, it's not like there's much else to choose from."

Matt glared before talking off. Tlaz chuckled before roaring in pain as a lightning bolt blasted into her back. "You...you...BITCH!" snapped Chloe, who had also dragoned up to double her punch.

Tlaz hissed before tackling Chloe down. "You dare to strike me, your obvious better?" she snarled.

Chloe glared before spasming...and saying with red eyes, "She fought far worse than you," before blasting Tlaz off her.

Tlaz roared with anger before charging Chloe again, causing them both to be knocked out of the room. And since that room was at the top of a pyramid, they ended up tumbling down the steps.

'Chloe' however just laughed as, at the bottom, she flipped Tlaz off with practiced ease. "I could always beat him...and not because he didn't want to hurt his 'dear sister'," she said, tauntingly.

Tlaz was a bit surprised by this declaration, but she was too wound up with indignant fury to back down now. Sadly she made the mistake that Matt had always made: she paused thus allowing Silvia to go to town on her with lightning blows that, alone would hardly phase her but together, one after the other to the point that 5 to 8 landed each few seconds...well.

Quite soon, Tlaz was barely standing up, bruises quite visible on several parts of her body and blood was dripping from one of the cuts on her face. Silvia laughed and trotted up tauntingly. "Nothing like a good workout, isn't there?" she taunted.

Tlaz glared from her one eye that wasn't swollen shut and growled. She was about to attack Silvia again before a deep voice roared "STOP!" The two dragonesses looked up to see Xipe Totec flying down to them. He was easily recognizable by his larger size, his particularly tall set of horns, and the cloak made of flayed human skin he wore.

"Classy. Is your baby seal hat in the wash?" Silvia taunted.

Xipe Totec landed and growled, "I shall not have dragons fighting like a pair of jaguar cubs in my city."

"Then explain to her the penalty of hitting on my brother," said Silvia, coldly

Xipe Totec gave Silvia a look of contempt and said, "And why should she not? They are ideal mates. If anything, it should he who should be hitting on her. A dragon of your common class should consider herself very fortunate to have him as a brother."

"Really? I once broke 4 of my dear brother's ribs. He's a joke and he's already hitting on someone else," said Silvia icily.

"Whoever that other one is no longer matters," said Xipe Totec, "He belongs here and you do not."

Silvia smirked and tuned into her silver tongue abilities, "Fine, release the human children and their dragons to our care and I can arrange something." ignoring Chloe's inner voice, though the words were unrepeatable here.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Xipe Totec.

"Your, well I presume she is your daughter, is holding several of our companions hostage. You and me both can spot that she intended to find them guilty in your court if my brother hadn't agreed," said Silvia smoothly.

"How could she have changed the outcome of the game?" asked Xipe, giving Tlaz a suspicious look.

"It's simple; if my brother doesn't agree, she'd find the kids guilty and they'd be executed. Even our resident idiot, Morph could spot it," said Silvia, walking back and forth calmly.

Xipe's accusing look intensified as he said to Tlaz, "You were planning to bribe the scorekeepers, weren't you? Or give the other team an unfair boost."

Tlaz remained silent, her head hung. Silvia smirked as Chloe gave her the mental equivalent of a high five. "Can we have our Vikings back, sir?" Silvia said, a little childishly.

"As soon as their unbiased trial is over," said Xipe, "The natives haven't seen a ballgame in such a long time."

"Wait...ballgame?" said Silvia, her brain stalling a bit.

"Yes, one without Tlaz assisting the other team," said Xipe, giving Tlaz a stern look.

"Oh crap..." muttered Silvia.

...

"That's their idea of a trial?" said Wilson. "A damn ballgame?"

"What were you expecting, a judge and jury of peers?" asked Chip, "These are Aztecs."

"We gotta help em. They're toast otherwise," said Techo.

"Well, Sue's been bargaining down the difficulty of the game," said Chip, "Making it at least feasible for new players to win."

"I knew bringing a lawyer would work. What did she bargain down to?" said Techo happily.

"Well, there's gonna be ramps leading up to the hoops so the kids won't need superhuman hips to bounce the ball up there," said Chip, "And the score system have been simplified. They have to get six points to win. However, the team scoring will subtract their points and if the other team gets 14 points, the kids lose."

"We could just shoot the other team," suggested Techo before he said, "Hey...where's Nega and Matt?"

...

NegaMorph opened his eyes weakly to hear a voice saying, "Subject reconstituted and contained."

NegaMorph groaned and muttered, "Ugh, I feel like I've been bottled up."

He finally focused to see he was indeed bottled up. "Identify intentions," said the computer.

"To get out of here...and possibly grab some more gold," said NegaMorph.

"Intentions are short time goals. Probability of primary goal: 0%. Identify intentions for breach of containment," said the computer calmly.

"I didn't mean to break into your tunnels. The ground collapsed under the weight of the gold and I went in after it," said NegaMorph as he tried to squirm into a more comfortable position.

"Truth factor 98.2%. The inmates of this facility have been, via population growth calculations, loose for 984 cycles. Conclusion: You are not the cause of containment failure," said the computer.

"Good, glad we're in agreement, can I go now?" asked NegaMorph.

"No. Containment must be re-established or liquidation initiated," said the computer calmly

"And what exactly are you supposed to be containing?" asked NegaMorph.

"48 Juvenile plasma dragons." said the computer calmly.

"Juvenile? I'm pretty sure those guys are full grown now," said NegaMorph.

"Indeed, scanners indicate a population of 212 with 84 fertilized eggs awaiting hatching," said the computer.

"That many? Oh boy," muttered NegaMorph, "And I thought a dozen was bad."

"You rebooted me. You will aid in containment or the gravitonic charge in this facility will detonate and destroy all units within 500,000 square kilometers," said the computer simply.

"Gravitonic charge? Those things are real?" asked NegaMorph panicked. Everyone had heard the old tales that the Atlanteans had a bomb capable of wiping out planets, but NegaMorph had assumed those were just exaggerations.

"Upon detonation, the gravity field inside the target zone is temporarily multiplied to 30 times that of a class 3 sun, crushing and incinerating all mass. No fallout, no environmental damage," said the computer simply.

"So, right, let's get to work on corralling on those dragons," said NegaMorph nervously.

"That is an impossible task. However, the eggs are salvageable and could be returned to the Avalarian authorities for rehabilitation," said the computer.

NegaMorph shrugged as much as he could and said, "Sure, egg rescue, shouldn't be a problem."

"Negative, your energy field would cause complications for the embryos inside," said the computer sternly.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that," said NegaMorph, "But I have plenty of friends who'll be glad to help."

"You have 48 hours," said the computer warningly before the top of the tube opened and began to suck.

"Oh, this is gonna be pleasant," said NegaMorph sarcastically before being sucked out.

...

Matt however had flown to the highest point he could find, a cliff overlooking the city.

"I can't believe Tlaz would have sunk so low. What am I saying? I completely expected that. But I shouldn't have risen to her bait that quickly. If she harms them...I'll rip her apart," he muttered to himself angrily.

He paused before muttering, "Gotta calm down. Don't wanna give into those violent urges. That's Draconus's department."

A wince got him at that. A sharp pain. "What the...argh!" he managed looking to see his claws seeming to bend into a nasty hook shape, similar to the others.

"Draconus, if this is your doing, it's not funny," growled Matt.

_"It's not me. It feels like..."_ began Draconus before he was cut off and Matt felt like his head was splitting, his head horns getting longer while a smaller pair sprouting below them while his blue scales got a shade darker. Matt gritted his fangs which seemed even sharper than normal. With a final roar and a crunching noise, he gained a little height and a nasty bone blade was added to his tail.

The last thing he managed to see before blacking out was Tlaz trotting into view, saying, "My handsome Xiuhtecuhtli."

...

At noon, everyone in the city had gathered to watch. It's been a long time since they've seen a full game of the Mesoamerican ballgame.

"Ok...remember. If it starts to go to hell, just wave and we'll shoot everyone and leg it," said Techo to Hiccup.

"And the goal of this game is just knock the ball through the other team's hoop," said Hiccup, "Shouldn't be too hard."

"Except you can't use your hands at all," said Techo, "You can use any other part of your body, particularly the hip."

"Think of it like football from hell," said Chris, adding "Oh, and if you lose, they cut out your heart."

The look on the kids' faces was not one of confidence. "Nice going," said Techo, "Why don't you tell them that they've got to swim in piranha waters next?"

"Nah, we're too far away from the Amazon for piranha," said Chris cheerfully till Techo nodded at Morph, who in an act of uncommon cleverness, turned into Link, and glued Chris's mouth shut.

Ruffnut somehow managed to wear off the shock and noticed a bubbling pot full of very thick liquid. "What's that?" she asked, poking her hand in.

"I do believe it's liquid rubber," said Chip before noting Ruffnut's pained look, "Oh and it's probably hot..."

Ruffnut pulled her hand out which was now covered in rubber. "Here, I'll get it," said Tuffnut before pulling the rubber inside out off of Ruffnut's hand, surprisingly leaving a perfect rubber glove.

"This is a really bad idea...but probably not in the rules," said Chip before they saw Chloe flying into range alongside Xipe Totec.

"Ah, this game is a cinch," said Snotlout, "I mean, how tough could the other guys be?"

On cue, Xipe made a nod and several of the largest men the crew had ever seen, despite having seen splitters, ran onto the other side of the arena. "Never say that when you are with us," said Techo monotonously.

"Uh, those guys have an easy average 25 strength, 30 endurance, and 50 stamina," said Fishlegs. "What's our average?" asked Tuffnut. "Uh...18, 24, and 40," said Fishlegs.

"24's not too bad," said Chris only for Fishlegs to say "That's the twins' endurance."

Chloe, who had landed, said, "Kinda sucky...none of you seen my brother or that bitch dragon from hell?" before everyone jumped as Totec 'hopped' down from his perch.

"Lady Silvia, if you and your companions would like join me from our perch. You will get a better view." he said before leaning in to mutter, "Just between us, my daughter needed that tail kicking."

"Er, Chloe, you think you can trust that guy?" asked Chris.

"Relax, they won't want to taint their breeding with my common stock," said Chloe.

Xipe sighed. "It's a stupid rule, but I am outnumbered by my fellows. It is a shame...you are quite a beautiful one," he said.

Chloe's hackles rose up and she growled, "Try it and you'll end up trying to figure out how to fly with a significant piece of your rudder missing. And I don't mean your tail."

Ruffnut was looking at Chris, "Were you growling?"

Chris saying quickly, "I'm hungry."

Xipe frowned and said, "Anyways, the top perch awaits. You'll have a better view of the game." He turned to the kids and said, "Don't lose too quickly. The citizens want to see some sport." Chloe nodded and took off to land on the perch as well. Xipe nodded saying, with a glare at some of Tlaz's fellows. "Let me be clear: any attempt to alter the balance against these...Norsemen will be dealt with by me personally. There will be no ability for a repeat offence," he said out loud before saying "BEGIN!"

The kids walked into the court and Hiccup said, "Ok, we train dragons. This couldn't be harder, right?" Then the ball was tossed right in front of them followed by the ground rumbling as the warriors started charging them. Chloe just kneelt down and covered her face with her wings. There was a sound like bowling pins as the kids were knocked aside as the warriors charged through. Except for Fishlegs, he just made a squeaky sound as they ran over him. Chloe finally peered out to see the Vikings picking themselves up, Fishlegs spitting out a mouthful of dirt.

...

Their dragons however had also been given their own perch...under guard of course. _"It's a massacre. It's worse than when we found out there was only one donut left,"_ moaned Kala.

_"I'm sure at least Astrid will put up a good defense,"_ said Stormfly.

_"I don't think so,"_ said Kala carefully before the warriors charged back the same way and steamrollered them again. _"Urgh...where the smeg is Matt? For once we NEED an explosion."_

Barf and Belch looked in different directions. _"I don't see him,"_ said Barf.

_"Maybe we should ask his cousin,"_ said Belch.

_"They're not cousins. They're homicidal maniacs who eat hearts. We did see the pyramid...remember?"_ said Kala in her 'talking to Morph/morons' voice.

_"Really? That one looks like a close relative,"_ said Belch.

Barf turn to look where his other head looking and said, _"Oh yeah, I see it now."_

Kala, despite everything followed their gaze to see a plasma dragon along with the 'bitch dragon from hell' aka Tlaz. _"Come to think of it...but he'd never do that...cause I'd kill him slowly over a warm fire if he did,"_ she said in a sweet tone that caused the other dragons to inch away from her...her smile not helping.

The dragon in question did have a strong resemblance to Matt. But the scales were too dark, the eyes were golden, his horns were the wrong shape and had a second pair. Not to mention Matt would never be caught dead with those gold earrings, horn-rings, amulets, and other Aztec bric-a-brac this dragon was wearing.

_"If that is him, I'll choke him with that bling,"_ Kala snarled.

_"Uh, probably just one of those weird coincidences... Oh, that's going to hurt for a day,"_ said Hookfang who had just saw Snotlout get hip-checked into a wall.

_"Screw that! Is that Matt or not?"_ snapped Kala, glaring at Hookfang with a 'Freddy Kruger' expression of fury what caused the Monstrous Nightmare to whimper.

...

Meanwhile, Chloe was wondering the same question as she looked at the new plasma dragon besides that tramp. The duo landed neatly, Tlaz bowing before Totec and saying, "May I introduce my mate to be, Xiuhtecuhtli, father?"

Totec looked him up and down and said, "He seems to be a well-built warrior. I think he should be able to father many strong dragons."

Xiuh bowed. "It would be an honor to forward our race," he said, Chloe going bug eyes as she saw the voice, despite the slight deepness added by the added height.

However, before Chloe could say anything, her eyes took on a steely coolness and she said, "My congratulations to you two."

Xiuh looked at Chloe at that. "You seem familiar...do I know you?" he asked only for Tlaz to say "Of course you don't my darkling." licking his cheek.

Silvia held in her disgust and simply said, "I'm just a traveler. Nothing you should worry about."

Chloe's voice echoed, _"WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I'M GONNA CHOKE THAT BITCH WITH HER OWN BLING!"_

Silvia rolled her eyes "Hmm...maybe after the honeymoon," she muttered, just to get the reaction. Silvia winced as she learned (like Matt quite some time ago) that the voices in your head can give you headaches. "Excuse me...I need to mingle with my underlings," she said, gliding down to the others who immediately spotted her for who she was.

Wilson was aiming at her as he said, "When did Captain Slimy come back? Thought NegaMorph drained her,"

"Speaking of which, where is he?" asked Draco, "He's missing the game."

"I don't care...say, Draco. Does slut dragon's boyfriend look...familiar?" she asked.

Draco held his fingers in a framing pose and looked through them. "Hmm, well, if you remove the baubles and tone down his skin, he almost looks like Matt."

"Exactly, I can smell the soap from the brainwashing from here. I should know, I am brainwashing," said Silvia calmly.

Wilson and Draco froze at that. "Er, I suppose you want to keep the lid on this because you have a plan for getting Matt free later," said Draco.

"Yes...first we need to work out how it got past that patch Chloe says was put on by Cydra," said Silvia before hearing a rumbling. "Morph, could you move that brick?" she said, pointing down to where a brick under Morph's feet kept trying to lift up.

Morph looked down and asked, "This wasn't a vibrating seat?" Just then, a little bit of black ooze seeped through the crack, reached up, and started throttling Morph.

"That's a no. Long time, no see, general...or do you have another rank now?" Silvia asked, causing the strangulating to pause.

The ooze seemed to seep through even more as the tendril gained mass and a shape appeared at the end, eventually forming into the end of NegaMorph's tail. The eye on it looked up Silvia and the mouth said, "Silvia, is that you? Wait, you're not still mad about those things in New York or Detroit, are you?"

"Not so much, nanites brought me back. Now then, much as it pains me, we have to save my other half's brother from himself," Silvia said.

"Well, there's a lot more saving than that to do," said NegaMorph, "Because there's a..."

"Obviously there is some kind of Atlantean base that originally held the eggs. You were trapped there briefly and told by something that if we do not fix the status quo, everything in range will be ashes...correct?" Silvia interrupted before seeing the gang's looks. "What? Matt's within 30 miles. It was sure to happen." The others thinking for a second and nodding reluctantly.

"Great, we're on the same page," said NegaMorph, "Now we just need to get the eggs out, whack some sense back into Matt, and get the smeg out of here."

Silvia nodded before wincing and finally saying "Fine, we have to convince the civilians to evacuate. Apparently time and space in this verse will be irrevocably changed if we don't."

"How are we supposed to do that?" asked Wilson.

"Look at them. They're more superstitious than a ship of pirates," said Silvia, "Just fake some ominous omens or something."

"Or we could make our own. We have enough C12 to sink California," said Techo.

"Why bother, me and Morph can turn into a slew of experiments designed to cause unnatural natural phenomenon, remember?" said NegaMorph.

"Oh yeah," said Morph.

Just then, they heard quite a bit of laughing from the plasma dragons, especially Tlaz and her new 'boyfriend'. They turned to see Hiccup being helped up by Snotlout, all of the kids sporting some nasty bruises. "Ok, we'd better fix this first...and I got an idea. General, get the ball next time it flies this way. Morph, jump in the molten rubber," said Silvia.

"Yay!" called Morph before running off.

"Oh, I get it," said Draco, "You're gonna swap the real ball out for Morph who'll make sure the kids don't lose, right?"

"Yes...exactly," said Silvia innocently.

...

Eventually, a time-out was called. It was mostly because the warriors were getting thirsty and hot. The dragon riders limped backed to their side. "This is insane, we need a miracle," said Astrid.

"No, we need to cheat," said Snotlout.

'Chloe' nodded. "Exactly, I'm Chloe's smarter half...HEY, THERE ARE KIDS PRESENT!" she said, surprising the others with her outburst.

Chip sighed and said, "Never mind her. We have a way for you guys to win this game," said Chip.

"How? Those guys have 12 points. We'll never stop them from getting those last two, let alone make up the difference," said Hiccup.

"Meet the new 'ball'," said Silvia, holding up a seemingly innocent ball, which immediately opened eyes and said "Howdy do." in Morph's voice.

The kids blinked in surprise. "He can turn into a ball?" asked Astrid.

"Sorta, we dipped him in rubber to make it more convincing," said Chip.

"I feel like a gobstopper," said Morph happily before bouncing into Astrid's hands.

"Morph, remember, balls don't talk. Now go score or I'll electrocute you," said Silvia.

"Wait, if I'm covered in rubber, doesn't that mean you can't electrocute me?" said Morph.

"I'll find a way," said Silvia as Totec called down "RETURN TO THE GAME!"

"I really hope this works," said Hiccup.

"I know, I'm getting my butt kicked so hard I can't feel new pain anymore," said Tuffnut. Ruffnut smacked the back of his head. "Oh wait, yeah, I can."

Astrid made the first kick, the grinning warriors lunging for the ball that, to their shock, dodged out of the way and towards Hiccup's feet. Hiccup instinctively kicked at the ball with his metal foot, causing it to inexplicably ricochet rapidly before going through the other team's hoop.

The watchers stared for a minute before cheering, Totec for some reason laughing. The kids looked at each and shrugged. "Well, anything's better than having your heart torn out, right?" said Hiccup.

...

Xiuh glared as the Norsemen easily scored over and over while the other side couldn't even hold the ball. "They are clearly cheating. They did something to the ball!" she snapped.

"Well, the game was getting too one-sided anyways," remarked Xipe Totec, "Though I must find out how they did it later."

"To punish them?" said Tlaz hopefully only for Totec to say "No...to congratulate them for livening up my day."

Totec looked at them and said, "It's for the best anyways. If the Norsemen lost, their crew would make things unnecessarily complicated."

"Huh…" sulked Tlaz as the Norsemen racked up even more scores before saying "At least you will get your first meal, my darling," she said, wrapping her tail around Xiuh's.

"And what meal will that be?" asked Xiuh.

"The hearts of the losers of course," said Tlaz.

Xiuh grimaced and said, "That would be a waste of warriors, wouldn't it?"

"They are failures and unworthy," said Tlaz coldly before her eyes flashed at Xiuh.

Xiuh gritted his teeth before his disgust was overwhelmed by something else: hunger, hunger for flesh, crispy on the outside but raw and juicy on the inside.

"Yes...one good meal and you'll be mine forever." muttered Tlaz.

...

The game was progressing pretty swiftly. Already, the kids had made it out of the red zone and were stacking up points. "Ok, just one point and we're done," said Hiccup.

"Good, cause the game's almost over," said Astrid, pointing at the shadow that acted as the timer.

Fishlegs, in a thoughtful voice asked "What happens if we don't get all the points?"

Chip paused for a minute, "The amount of points you get is equal to how many of you get to keep their hearts."

"I wonder who would be the one who get their heart torn out if we stopped now?" asked Fishlegs. Chip kept silent, not wanting to mention that the dragons had all been eyeing him for a large meal.

Luckily a cheer came up as Snotlout scored the last ball just as the shadow inched over the end.

"STOP...THE NORSEMEN ARE INNOCENT!" roared Totec, a faint 'But daaaaaad..." from Tlaz.

"Well, at least things are going to end well," said Hiccup.

"Not for the other team," pointed out Astrid.

The warriors were indeed slowly trooping off the field glumly. Silvia however said, "Don't feel too guilty. Aztec warriors don't believe in mercy very much."

"Can't we do anything for them?" asked Hiccup.

"We could try to say they're too honorable to be executed...worth a try. You did win after all so your voice has a little weight," said Silvia with a shrug.

"Uh, are we sure getting between a large group of dragons and something they want to eat is a good idea?" asked Fishlegs.

"It's that or we get to watch. I believe you also earn guest of honor," said Silvia pleasantly

The kids looked like they were about to be sick. "I think I better find some more smoke grenades. We might need to do a bit of 'hocus pocus' to get these guys off the executioner's block," said Chip.

Wilson grinned. "Or if a demon busts em out..." he said, wiggling the fingers on his combat armor. Nobody had worked out how to get it off yet, least of all Wilson.

"Being carried off by a demon is probably considered worse than an execution," remarked Chip.

"I'll drop them off and leave them somewhere else," said Wilson with a shrug.

"We might need a bit of theatrics to go with it. Some explosions, some brimstone, maybe some lava. What do you think, Morph?" asked Chip before prying the 'ball' open.

Morph spilled out and groaned, "Boy, do I have a headache."

"Fine, experiments of the 600 series, as semi boss of your little crew until Chloe's brother comes to her senses, I am giving you permission to cause absolute Grade A mayhem...as long as you aren't seen. Go nuts," said Silvia before noticing the lack of reaction, "If you don't Chloe says she'll incinerate the last of the coconut cake."

The experiments left so quickly, they left dust clouds shaped like themselves behind. Except Morph, who moaned, "Can't I take a nap or something first?"

"Do it or die," snapped Silvia.

Morph waddled off muttering, "No rest at all, she's even bossier than the regular Chloe."

A split second later, a lightning bolt hit Morph. "MOVE IT!" she snapped. That prompted Morph to move, though it was a bit more vertical than Silvia expected.

"Ok. Now then, general. You and Techo...show me this computer. I might have an idea to deal with these dragons without killing them," she said.

...

Getting back down into the underground base was rather easy. Though NegaMorph got blasted a few times.

"Ok, compy. Let's get this clear: we have to either de-evil all the dragons or kill them and steal their eggs...or you're gonna blow up half of North America," said Silvia carefully, who had, through agreement between her and Chloe, remained in control for a bit.

"Half of North America? I thought it was only this valley," said NegaMorph.

"Explosive yield must allow no chance of avoiding the blast radius," said the computer before saying "Your confirmation is correct."

"Ok, so taking the eggs and beating it isn't a good idea anymore," said NegaMorph.

"The eggs alone are insufficient. The risk to the indigenous population must be diffused," said the computer calmly; an image of the earth appearing, red spreading out from what was probably the base location, "Even if the eggs are taken, the dragons will spread out in all directions. Avalarian dragons would have no barrier from the oceans. In less than 3 cycles, the planet would be overrun. This is the most likely scenario at 99.231%"

Techo turned to Silvia and said, "Ok, what's your 'brilliant' plan to deal with these dragons without killing them?"

"Computer, I am uploading a file to you. Can you modify the bomb to carry out this function?"

The computer beeped before saying, "A neural purge. This would effectively remove the genetic programming from the plasma dragons, rendering them harmless. Timeline projections indicate this as a favorable outcome for the planet with a 94.714% positive probability. The bomb will be prepared within 22.6 hours. The eggs must be removed from the city radius however as projections indicate the radiation used would be highly toxic to both them and the human population...equivalent to an ionic radiation bomb."

"Wait, are you changing the graviton bomb into an amnesia bomb?" asked NegaMorph.

"Sure. Why not?" said Silvia.

The computer saying, "You never put the possibility forward...organics always presume."

"Well, that certainly makes the situation simpler," said Techo, "Though we still have to get the boss back before he does anything...unsavory."

"Yes...we should do that…I'M TELLING THEM!" snapped Silvia, causing everyone to jump as she yelled at her reflection.

"Ah, arguing with your better half?" asked NegaMorph.

"Quiet, you. Let's just get on with it," said Silvia icily.

...

The next day, it seemed like the end of the world had begun, or at least it appeared that way to the citizens of El Dorado. There were earthquakes, small volcanic eruptions, flash floods, windstorms, a cold snap, and several reported sightings of demons that are always gone before the dragons could investigate.

Silvia and Chloe both used their shared eyes to watch the mayhem and the confused dragons. "You do good value for cake," said Silvia, impressed before noticing that, while alot of buildings were now flat, there was a surprisingly lack of rubble. "Ok, Nega. Share," she said dully.

"Share what? I don't know what you're talking about," said NegaMorph. Silvia sighed before grabbing NegaMorph by the tail, hoisting him up into the air, and shaking him. On cue, a half dozen gold blocks fell out, causing the other mercs present to growl angrily. It was this that reminded Nega that to mercs, gold was their addiction...and he'd just held out. "Uh, you know there's plenty more where that came from, right?" said NegaMorph.

"GET HIM!" yelled one of the mercs. Silvia stepped back and watched as for the first time in NegaMorph's history, he was overpowered in melee by humans.

Chip sighed as he watched the mercenaries fighting for gold as badly as dragons. "I hope that some of you are aware that precious metals such as gold are considered valuable primarily because of their rarity and thus the mass introduction of this substance to Nullspace would have a detrimental effect upon their value and adversely affect the economy as a whole," he said.

A merc stopped at that and said "What the hell are you talking about?" causing Chip to sigh and say "Carry on."

Morph walked up and said, "Ok, we're ready to do the stampede in a few minutes. Took a while to gather up all the little dickens."

"Excellent," said Chip, "At this rate, we'll have the natives wanting to clear out by sundown."

Morph sniffed and said a little tearfully, "Jumba would be proud."

"Really?" said a voice above them.

Morph jumped and landed in Chip's arms. "Morph, have you been collecting souvenirs? You feel heavier," said Chip.

"Maybe..." said Morph with shifty eyes.

The three plasma dragons on the roof said coldly, "Take them."

Morph quickly melted out of Chip's arms and slipped through the cracks on the floor. Similarly, NegaMorph disappeared into his shadow which quickly fled.

...

"It seems I shouldn't have trusted you after all. I thought the ball trick was amusing...but my patience is now long over," said Xipe Totec, glaring at the gang, "My warriors will find the norsemen...and their pets."

"You won't find them that easy to take," said Chris, "The dragons alone are pretty tough, but the kids have been trained to fight dragons."

"Good...so they won't mind the...experiments I did on some of my elite guard. The old ones left some interesting reading in the catacombs below," said Totec.

Silvia looked concerned at that. "You couldn't have," she said, "You guys couldn't know how to operate a computer, let alone use any data from down there."

"Not everyone buys into their own act. I know exactly where we came from. I'm surprised the old ones took so long to come after us," said Totec in a bored tone, adding, "Thank you for bringing a compatible officer to help expand out gene pool by the way."

Silvia glared and said, "Brainwashed or not, he would never bed with that skank of a skink."

"Believe me, my daughter is as skilled in the sciences as I am. All it took was some magic and a few rare pollens," laughed Totec, adding, "Of course I have wanted to try something the books called 'gene replacement'. You could be a sister in law."

Silvia snarled and her scales crackled with electricity, "If anyone of you lays a claw on me, I'll eat your heads."

Xipe sighed...before spitting a concentrated blast that pinned Silvia to the wall. "You bore me. Take them away and send my elite guards to find the others," he said in a bored tone as Silvia slumped down, smoking and unconscious "...and take her to my alchemy room."

...

NegaMorph eventually met up with Morph and took him down to the computer in the catacombs. However, the computer wasn't too helpful at first, preferring to rub in their defeat. "I did warn you all that they are advanced bioweapons. You honestly thought you could take them?" it said.

"Well, I thought they would be too hyped up by their 'godhood' to recognize advance science," said NegaMorph.

"Scanning...47 scientific journals and guides, as well as advanced equipment is not at their designated locations since I was last online," said the computer.

"Well, you could have told us they weren't that ignorant," snapped NegaMorph.

"Many of them are. I was only just made aware of the situation," said the computer.

"Well, I hope you have an armory cause it looks like we're gonna need it," said NegaMorph.

"It was destroyed by a rock fall. However surface defenses are still operational," said the computer before pausing, "How are you as acting as a demon?"

"Ought to be pretty easy, seeing how everyone mistakes me for one," said NegaMorph, a little annoyed.

"Good...you will 'announce' curses as I surgically destroy buildings. The white, brainless clone of you will aid you. The bomb will detonate in 5 hours," said the computer.

"Does this mean we're not doing the stampede?" asked Morph.

"Negative...proceed. The bomb will detonate regardless of your success in forcing an evacuation," said the computer coldly.

"Okeydokey," said Morph, "NegaMorph, better get your costume on." He opened his stomach hatch and pulled out some Aztec garments. "I made them myself using Pleakley's DNA. Please don't force me to do it again."

NegaMorph lifted a piece up. "I'm not wearing that. I don't need to wear that." he complained only for the computer to say "It will increase success rate by 50%"

"You heard the computer, put it on," said Morph.

"Oh, alright," grumbled NegaMorph before dissipating his hat and coat.

The computer seemed to wait before saying "You definitely look like a ugly demon now." causing Morph to laugh...briefly before NegaMorph blasted him.

...

Fortunately, the dragon riders were a step ahead of the Aztecs. They had gone into the catacombs to start looking for the eggs, though not every one of their dragons could follow. "So...what do you think a plasma dragon egg would look like?" said Snotlout, shining his torch down a side passage.

"I'm not sure," said Hiccup, "We've seen how Changewing eggs look so different from other dragons. They might be completely different from anything we've ever seen."

The group continued to look until they could hear voices up ahead. "When are we going to be above ground again?" hissed a voice, "I'm tired of skulking in the dark."

"Our brothers and sisters hunt for the outsiders, but someone must protect these," said another voice.

"Why should we? They're never going to let them hatch anyways," hissed the other voice.

"Shh...Totec will be furious if he hears you talk like that," said the second voice scoldingly.

Hiccup waved at the others to back up a bit at that. "Ok, I'm pretty sure the eggs are over there, but how do we get by the guards?" whispered Hiccup.

"We rush them, we're Vikings," said Snotlout, though the others filtered this out a little while they waited for an actual idea.

"Ok, we need a distraction," said Hiccup, "We need to get them to look the other way..."

"And then we rush them?" asked Tuffnut.

"No...maybe."

The group peered round the corner to see two shadowy figures standing either side of a room entrance, an egg in view.

"They aren't that big. We can take them," said Ruffnut.

"I dunno...something about them seems off," said Astrid, noting that the shadows looked wrong.

"We're on a time limit, remember?" said Snotlout, "We can't wait much longer." On that, the twins and Snotlout ran round the corner.

"What in the-?" began a surprised voice before the trio arrived.

Taken by surprise, the trio managed to knock the guards over. "Huh, what do you know, it worked," commented Fishlegs.

On cue, the twins were both grabbed and pulled into the shadows before being thrown back out, the 'guards' walking into view. "Now that was just rude," said one of the guards, a humanoid version of the dragons above ground.

"Ok, probably should have expected that," said Hiccup.

"GET THEM!" yelled the other one.

Hiccup backed up and said, "Guys, time to make room for the dragons."

"What?" said one of the guards before Starflame and Toothless plasma blastef them into the far wall with a double 'oof!'

"Think that'll keep them down?" asked Astrid.

"I have reason to doubt. Guys, smack to make sure," said Hiccup.

The guards didn't react to a slap, so the kids headed past them...and saw row upon row of eggs, sky blue shells glowing faintly.

"Wow, to think Matt started out as one of these," said Ruffnut.

"I'm pretty sure he said that he wasn't always a dragon...repeatedly," said Astrid.

"It feels wrong...taking these eggs," said Hiccup glumly, peering at them.

"I know, but it would be even worse to leave them," said Fishlegs.

"I know...come on. We'd better act fast," said Hiccup.

...

While the arrival of Xiuhtecuhtli was a welcome relief for the depleted gene pool, the plasma dragons were even more excited about Xipe Totec ushering in another new member through an unprecedented achievement.

"MATT! YOU GET ME LOOSE OR SO HELP ME I WILL KICK YOUR BLUE ARSE ALL THE WAY BACK TO NORWAY!" Chloe screamed. Xiuh wasn't sure who this 'Matt' was, but he couldn't help but feeling considerable dread.

Xipe trotted in at that. "Shall we begin? Xiuh. You get a rare chance to see me work my magic," he said.

"How exactly will this work?" asked Xiuh.

"A simple blood transfusion along with some...old one technology," said Xipe, opening a pendant to pull out a vial of grey liquid.

Xiuh gave the vial a dubious look and said, "Are you sure that's reliable?"

"Indeed it is...shall we begin, my dear?" said Xipe, grinning evilly at Chloe. Chloe hissed and tried to spit lightning, but the bonds tying her to the stone table had been enchanted to keep her from using her powers.

Xipe nodded before opening the vial, a hissing noise coming from it before he carefully cut his finger and let a drop of blood fall in. The vial let out a small but spectacular fireworks show as sparks of plasma shot out of the opening before the vial started glowing bright blue.

Xipe grinned before grabbing Chloe and pouring the contents down. "Drink up," he said.

Chloe screamed as she can feel the serum working through her system. Her body lit up like a neon sign flashing blue and yellow, which caused all the spectators to go 'ooh' and 'aah'.

Tlaz laughed at the spectacle before she looked to the side to see Xiuh frowning. "Is there a problem, my beloved? If her screams offend you, we could cut out her vocal chords," she said.

"Yes, her screams do disturb me...but I don't wish her harm..." said Xiuh hesitatingly.

"What?" snapped Tlaz.

"I'm not entirely sure what, but this whole thing seems...wrong," said Xiuh.

"Nonsense. In a minute she will either be out of our scales forever or a sister in law," said Tlaz loftily.

The word 'sister' rang loudly in Xiuh's ears. Suddenly, he realized that Chloe was his sister. He couldn't think of any logical reason for that to be so or any memory of her before, but he knew she was his sister. "Wait...No!" he exclaimed, walking forward to try and stop his father in law.

Xipe looked at the approaching Xiuh and said, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Stopping this...she...isn't strong enough for this. Look at her," said Xuih, holding up Chloe's limp wing.

"What doesn't kill her will make her stronger," said Xipe.

"That doesn't even make sense," snapped Xiuh.

Chloe was already twitching, her scales turning blue. "I'm...gonna kick your...arse..." she managed.

"You see, she's already making the transition," said Xipe, "Soon, she shall be one of us."

"Not...a chance…" said Chloe weakly.

"She's had enough, turn it off," demanded Xiuh.

"I can't, the liquid must finish. Oh...she's stopped," said Xipe in a bored tone, looking down.

Chloe's skin was now a mixture of yellow and growing blue stripes, almost like a tropical drink. If she weren't moaning in pain, it would be kinda funny. Xiuh twitched again as for some reason, an urge to kill everyone in the room bubbled up.

He was about to snap at Xipe Totec when his ears picked up a distant rumbling. Pretty soon, all the dragons were hearing it and it was getting louder. Tlaz said annoyed "What in hell is that?"

Just then, there were several screams in the streets, something about 'swarms of demons'. "Demons? Here?" said Xipe confused before looking Tlaz. "Finish this one and blank out her memory. I know you love to do that. We need a goddess of love," he said.

Tlaz frowned and said, "But that's my role." Quite a few dragons made coughing that suspiciously sounded like denials.

"Then you will have competition. DO IT!" snapped Totec. Tlaz snarled but walked over to Chloe's limp body. Xipe was well aware that Tlaz hated competition above all other things, but she has been getting things her own way too many times recently.

Tlaz grinned, pulling a vial from her own pendant when the same warrior ran back. "The city is being overrun, o'lord. We need help," he gibbered.

"Overrun by what?" demanded Xipe, "You warriors are surely more than enough to deal any petty disturbance."

"It is the end of days...the underworld had ruptured!" gibbered the warrior, clearly losing it. Xipe glared and swatted the warrior aside.

"Right...I will see this for myself," he said. Xipe walked outside and to see...probably the most unusual sight he has ever seen. Chupacabras, hundreds of hundreds of chupacabras were stampeding through the streets, crawling up buildings, and chasing the panicking humans. He temporarily forgot he was supposed to be acing as a god and said "What the fuck is this?"

Fortunately out of Xipe's line of sight, Morph was riding Chupy who had been zapped to be about the size of a jaguar at the head of the stampede. His 'yee-haw' was drowned out by the noise of all the other chupacabras.

Xipe glared before grabbing the nearest warrior, "Get the families away...and kill those creatures."

"But...but how? They are demons," said the warrior.

"They are not demons," snapped Xipe, "They are creatures of flesh which can be killed like any other..." However, several chupacabras who had climbed up the temple walls decided to latch onto the creature who would have the most blood.

The warriors watched as Xipe was mobbed before freaking out and running off, screaming. The other dragons soon found themselves in disarray as more chupacabras started swarming through the windows.

…

NegaMorph watched from a nearby rooftop. "It...it bring s tear to my eyes," he said, sniffing happily as he watched the city emptying faster than the living quarters on karaoke night, "Still, I better make sure that they really pack off for good. Time for the grand finale."

…

Xiuh sat gloomily as he watched Tlaz working on the potion needed as Chloe began to come around.

The blueness had almost overwhelmed her yellow, but other than that, her body didn't seem to change at all.

"Now then, you need to drink that medicine," said Tlaz tauntingly, trying to force a blue liquid between Chloe's lips. Chloe hissed weakly but tried to squirm away from the vial.

"I said DRINK!" snapped Tlaz, slashing at Chloe only for a blast to knock her flying. Tlaz righted herself with a snarl to see Xiuh with the smoking mouth. "You dare fire at me?!" she snapped.

"We do not harm our prisoners!" snapped Xiuh, "Especially if ones who are in a bad enough state already."

"How dare…" she began only for Xiuh to say, "My dear, you were told not to harm her."

Tlaz snarled and said, "I am next in line for the throne. You may be my mate, but never forget that I came first and you can never question my commands."

"No...but I can easily promote myself as I have just proven," snarled Xiuh, walking up and looking down at her angrily.

"Is that a challenge?" growled Tlaz, glaring right back at him.

Xiuh glared at that. "You would dare disobey your father's wishes?" he said with a smirk.

"You're the one who keeps twisting them around!" snapped Xiuh.

"No, he wanted her alive, mind wiped but alive...and you use poison. Let me see that," said Xiuh, holding out a paw for Tlaz's serum.

"What makes you certain that it's poison?" demanded Tlaz.

Xiuh glared, "Then let me examine it."

"It's not your place to question me," said Tlaz.

Xiuh immediately snatched the vial, peering at it. "As I thought," he said, peering closely and intently.

"What, what is it?" asked Tlaz a little nervously.

"THIS!" said Xiuh, tossing the contents in Tlaz's face and mouth. Tlaz screamed in pain as her exposed flesh started to swell and boil over, fortunately not literally. "What do you know, it was poison," said Xiuh casually, tossing the now empty vial aside, not noticing a white blob waddling in

Morph wiped his forehead and said, "Phew, that Chupy rodeo's tougher than it looks. I hope someone was taking pictures." He looked up at that to see Chloe, jumping up to her. "Hey, Chloe...why so blue?" he asked, poking her. When Chloe didn't respond, Morph said, "Hmm...I better wake her up." With that, he proceeded to morph into Belle who screamed, Yin who squirted water on Chloe's face, and followed up with Yaarp who started making blaring blasts with his horn.

Chloe finally came too with a shriek, a plasma blast sending Morph flying. Morph landed in front of Xiuh and said, "Chloe's up."

"I noticed...get to your feet. You have to leave before she comes round and kills us both," Xiuh said, pushing Morph aside.

"I need to keep the stampede rolling anyway," said Morph. He whistled and Chupy trotted over. Morph jumped onto Chupy's back and yelled, "Hi ho Chupy, away!"

Xiuh shook his head as visions of idiocy, all featuring the white blob Morph came to view before he wandered over to Chloe. "Are you ok?" he asked her

"Well, my head feels like there's an earthquake going on and I'm on the wrong side of green," said Chloe, "But otherwise, dandy."

"Fine...now leave," said Xiuh sternly.

Chloe glared and said, "Oh no, I'm not going anywhere without you."

"Once she awakes, she will kill us both...LEAVE!" snapped Xiuh.

"Fine, but you're coming with me," said Chloe, grabbing at Xiuh's foreleg.

Xiuh was so surprised that he let himself be dragged along just as Tlaz came to, part of her face burnt from the poison.

She was more than a little incoherent in thought, but there was an undeniable urge to kill or at least maim in her and she looked around for anyone unfortunate enough to warrant that. As it was she saw her mate-to-be being dragged away by the bitch. "Kill..." she snarled lunging after them slowly.

She stumbled a bit since her depth perception wasn't accurate due to the poison and one of her eyes swollen shut. As it was she waked into the doorframe...not a good start to revenge.

...

Xiuh finally pulled his paw away. "Stop. Are you mad? She is a goddess. We need to get as far away as possible," he snapped.

Chloe rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, please, she's as much as a god as you are."

"Exactly," said Xiuh, his eyes glowing orange before an energy blast exploded out the building they had just left.

"No offense, but you couldn't be the god of anything. Not the way I can easily keep you out of the bathroom," said Chloe.

"How dare you?" snarled Xiuh, his eyes seeming to light up with flame.

"I've seen you been outwitted by guys a quarter your regular size...on a regular basis," said Chloe.

On cue, she was suddenly forced down as what seemed like flaming chains grabbed her. "You dare speak to a god that way?" growled Xiuh. Chloe had to admit she was rather surprised. She never saw Matt do anything like this. This 'Xiuh' personality seems to actually be competent. Hopefully it wasn't as bloodthirsty as the others were. "You will pay me the respect I require or you will not live to see another sunrise," echoed Xiuh, red glowing lines around his eyes, like cracks.

"Ok, ok, I get the picture," said Chloe.

The chains vanished, seeming to flow back to Xiuh. "Now..." he said before Tlaz landed with a thud. "You caught her, my dear," she said in a honey-layered voice.

"She is not so hard to catch," said Xiuh. Chloe muttered something about letting herself be caught.

"Now then, I guess I need to deal with her the hard way," said Tlaz, before her eyes glowed pink and she began tearing away at Chloe's psyche as painfully as she could. Chloe cringed and tried to defend her mind as much as she could. "Aw...why fight? It'll just hurt more," laughed Tlaz as she dug her mental claws in and squeezed.

"I don't think that much suffering is necessary," said Xiuh.

"Silence, darling. This worm needs to have her brain liquidized," Tlaz snarled, her eyes burning as she found a mental crack and pushed in.

"Liquidized? Isn't that overly excessive?" asked Xiuh.

"I don't care if she is your sister, she will be nothing but trouble until I've break her mind apart and rebuild it in our image," snapped Tlaz.

"Sister?" said Xiuh, faintly.

"Not for long!" snapped Tlaz, so focused on pouring her power through the chink in Chloe's mental armor that she failed to realize she made a monumentally bad mistake.

A second later, Xiuh leapt forward, sinking his fangs into her neck before throwing her aside. "Get away from her!" he snarled. Tlaz would have yelled at Xiuh or roared with anger, but that bite had bruised her vocal cords pretty badly. "You betrayed me. You are not worthy of your title," snarled Xiuh. Chloe slowly got back to her feet, her headache even worse now.

Tlaz glared. "When my father hears of this...you will perish…" she rasped only for Xiuh to say "Then I'd better make sure he doesn't find out," before his eyes blazed and Tlaz burst into flame, burning bright for a second before collapsing to ash.

Chloe gave a weak grin and said, "It's about time someone did that. I'm just sorry it wasn't me."

Xiuh turned to Chloe at that. "Explain...explain how I know you," he snarled "Or join her." he added, motioning to the few smoking bones that was all that remained of Tlaz.

Chloe quickly started, "Your real name is Matthew Lynch. You're my brother and we were travelling through this area when we came upon this place and those creeps poisoned your mind, quite literally, into making you think you're Zooeytecootly or whatever his name is."

Xiuh just stared for a second "What?" he finally managed when his train of thought took a nosedive off the cliff of incomprehension.

"The short version is that you're my brother and you're not really an Aztec god. You're not even really a dragon. Well, at least a dragon's not what you always are," said Chloe.

"What are you talking about?" Xiuh snapped.

Chloe sighed and tried to think of how Cydra managed to reset Matt, if there were any words or signs she could imitate. When that failed, she decided the tried and tested method. "Hey, what's that?" asked Chloe, pointing.

"What?" asked Xiuh turning to look only for Chloe to suddenly punch him.

Chloe winced as Xiuh went over like a sack of potatoes. "Always had that soft spot. CYDRA! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! GET YOUR COMPUTERY BUTT OUT HERE!" she roared skywards.

Time seemed to slow down before Cydra faded into view. "You haven't completed your mission yet," said Cydra, "I can't be popping in every time you become inconvenienced."

He yelped as two clawed paws grabbed him and he found himself screen to nose with some nasty dentistry. "Fix this NOW!" Chloe growled.

"You should be fortunate I am one of the more well-disposed immortals or I wouldn't tolerate such an affront," said Cydra before the parts of his cloak Chloe was grip came apart and flowed away before reassembling.

"Fix this or I will test that 'immortality' theory," she growled.

"If it'll speed things along," said Cydra before zapping Xiuh, "Don't call on me again until you've finished your mission and there's still the important part to take care of."

Chloe snapped, "We're already working on the locals and the damn proto-omelets."

"There's more than just that," said Cydra, "Most of the plasma dragons are not too far gone to be completely reformed with the mind-wipe, but some cannot be allowed to continue on to their new life. You already disposed of one, but you must get rid of her father. Xipe Totec must be destroyed."

"So...we gotta kill him? Before he kills us?" said Chloe, realizing now why Matt hated Mr. Black.

"You already start the ball rolling when destroyed his daughter. Even if he lost all his memories, he would never stop hunting you until you're destroyed. Not that he deserves the absolution and anonymity a new brings," said Cydra.

"I'm not an assassin," snapped Chloe.

"You have no choice," said Cydra, "This colony cannot begin again as long as he lives. And he will not give you any other options when he finds out what became of his daughter."

"I don't like you. Let's be clear," said Chloe icily.

"I don't have to like you and that has greater implications," said Cydra, "Go fulfill your mission and don't ask for my help again. Or else I'd be more interested in dealing out penalties than assistances." With that, Cydra vanished.

Chloe swore as time came back and heard a groan, "Oh, my head...hey...why am I a darker blue?"

Chloe sighed and said, "Long story, but you're alright now."

Matt stared at her and asked, "Why are _you_ blue?"

"Xipe Totec tried to go mad scientist on me. I hope this isn't permanent," said Chloe before noticing Matts gaze at the ash and bones. "That was Tlaz," she said.

Matt glared and said, "I remember that part. She put the mind whammy on me. I guess her death broke the spell or something."

"Yeah," lied Chloe before joking, "The bling suits you."

Matt looked over himself before feeling his head. "I hope these are clip-ons," he said as he felt the earrings.

"I don't think so...but Lao should be able to get it out," said Chloe, grinning before another scream was heard as the chupy epidemic continued.

Matt looked around at the half-ruined city and said, "Let me guess, the experiments did all this."

"Yup, we're getting everyone to run before the computer mindwipes everything here. Silvia's idea," said Chloe.

"Silvia? I have missed out on a lot," said Matt, "Er, I didn't do anything regrettable while I was the god of...which one was I?"

"You were the god of humor and theatrics," said Chloe with a smirk before sighing as Matt looked disappointed, "Alright, fine, you were the god of fire. Don't ask me what the name was because I can't pronounce it."

"Ha, I knew it," said Matt smugly, "I bet they built a big altar to me...which I hope hasn't had anyone sacrificed on it yet."

"Look, we still need to get everyone out," said Chloe. Matt stopped as he got an idea...just as a loud siren began to sound. "It's a bit too predated for an air raid siren," said Chloe, "I think we're in the final minutes of the countdown."

...

Xipe Totec glared as he looked down at the terrified humans, blabbering things about the end of days and things like that. His fellow dragons were not proving useful. He couldn't even find Tlaz or Xiuh. "SILENCE!" he finally roared. The humans quickly quieted down. The end of the world may be coming, but Lord Totec could easily kill them before that.

"Now then, this is NOT the end of days," said Xipe Totec calmly before the doors opened and a warrior hybrid ran in, staggering. "What is it now?" snapped Xipe Totec.

"The seeds of the sun, they have been stolen!" cried the warrior.

"WHAT?" roared Totec angrily, incinerating the luckless messenger. Causing all this turmoil was worthy of severe punishment enough, but the stealing of the eggs was beyond sacrilegious. "Find them and destroy them!" he roared before looking up to see Xiuh and what appeared to be his experiment heading towards the temple. He growled and snarled to his followers, "I shall deal with this traitor myself."

He flew out and seemed a little impressed to see the experiment being led. "It seems you are not as useless as you seem. Where is your mate?" he demanded.

"We broke up," said Xiuh.

"What?" said Xipe coldly before a plasma blast from Chloe knocked him back

"The thing is I already have a mate and I know she's not dead," said Xiuh, "And even if I were available, Tlaz was way too frivolous."

"You killed her..." said Xipe, getting up with a worrying air of calm.

"I might have spared her, but she was attempting to mentally puree my sister and I couldn't let that happen," said Xiuh.

"You seem to be remembering...a shame..." said Xipe before spitting a plasma ball that, despite Xiuh trying to block, blasted him flying. Chloe quickly tried to blast Xipe but her blast was knocked away with a flap of his wing. "You appear to have been a waste of effort," said Xipe, "Not only have you failed to conform to our ideals, but you have brought about incalculable damage. There is only one penalty to answer that with."

"Let me guess...death," said Chloe, surprising herself at her almost-brotherly sarcasm.

"Nothing less," said Totec, "And you shall receive it by the most brutal means I can achieve."

"Bite me," snarled Chloe, spitting a stream of flame at him

Totec flapped his wings and snuffed out the flame. "If you insist," he said before lunging forward, fangs bared.

Chloe was shocked when Xiuh/Matt tackled Totec at that, the two roaring and clawing at each other as they tried to inflict maximum damage. Chloe wanted to help Matt, but there was no way she coud fire a blast and make sure it wasn't Matt who could get hit. She winced as Totec proved that he has years, possibly centuries more experience as he got his opponent in a tail lock, choking him.

"You are not worthy to be one of us," said Totec to the gasping Matt, "I don't know what celestial error gave you this power, but that mistake is about to be corrected."

A roar behind him suddenly brought Chloe back to his attention...too late. The dragoness barreled into Totec, knocking Matt out of his grip. Chloe had definitely snapped, tearing at Totec before finally being kicked away, though Totec was the worse off it seemed.

Totec was bleeding from several spots, some of it looking quite serious. But he had more than enough strength to keep fighting. That was...until Chloe spat another plasma blast into his chest, knocking him back. Xipe Totec grimaced in pain. That particular wound was deep, but he wasn't about to let that stop him.

Chloe glared, her eyes glowing with energy as she stalked towards Xipe. "You're just a jumped up bully...and I don't like bullies," she hissed.

Xipe glared back and said, "I am superior to you in every way. The idea that you can vanquish is completely unimaginable. You barely even know how your powers work."

"I'm a fast learner," said Chloe before her eyes glowed and Xipe's forepaw burst into flame.

"What? What are you doing?" demanded Xipe.

"Putting you out of my misery," snarled Chloe before, her eyes...and Xipe both blazed.

Matt walked over to Chloe as Xipe Totec's body burned. "Ok, mission accomplished. That takes care of all the loose ends, right?" he asked.

"There's the natives...and the other dragons," said Chloe, before yelping as Matt shoved Xipe's necklace brace around her neck. "You're the boss now. Tell the natives to get the hell out," he said.

"Uh, why don't you? You were next in line for the throne and no one knew you defected yet," said Chloe, shoving the necklace brace back towards Matt.

Matt tried to push it back. "Oh no, the creepy makeover's more than good enough for me," he said before an explosion at the temple made them both stop and look.

"That wasn't the amnesia bomb, right?" asked Matt.

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't," said Chloe.

"Yeah...given I can remember everything...fine," snapped Matt, snatching the necklace and shoving it on before heading back for the temple.

...

The natives were backing away in terror from the hold that had opened up in the floor. It wasn't just because it was formed from an explosion, but because of the hellish stench and demonic screeches coming from it. In horror, they saw something rising from the hole, a hideous demon draped in the clothes of the dead and the bones of the slain. "I am Xelotl, god of the underworld," said the creature in a wretched voice, "The time has come for all mortals to leave El Dorado for the twilight of the gods is nigh."

The dragons looked at one another skeptically while the humans just stared, frozen in horror. Xelotl stared for a second before snapping "What? Do you need written confirmation? Get the smeg out."

One of the dragons snorted and said, "He is no-"

That's when Xelotl opened his fanged hand and shot several black darts that landed in the dragon's chest. The dragon twitched before falling over. "See how even your gods can be felled by the darkness of the underworld," said Xelotl before shooting out more darts.

The natives stared for a second before all screaming in unison and fleeing, therefore missing 'Xelotl's' head exploding from the sound overload and regenerating "Damn, these Aztecs got some good lungs."

As soon as the natives had fled, Matt and Chloe landed in through the demolished roof. Matt looked around and said, "Nice job, NegaMorph."

"I'm just that good," said NegaMorph before the trio heard the dragons growling before they noticed Matt's new digs.

"What happened to Xipe Totec?" asked one.

"He has fallen, and so has his daughter," said Matt.

The dragons glared before all bowing before the duo, one sneering at NegaMorph, "Now you fall."

"To this guy? Not even in his dreams," said NegaMorph before shooting some darts into Matt. Chloe winced as Matt keeled over with several dozen darts all over him. "Anyone else want to take a nap?" boasted NegaMorph.

The dragons all backed up as NegaMorph laughed, "As soon as you are all out of this city, El Dorado will be mine."

"And leave our glorious city to oathbreakers, thieves, and murderers?" snarled one of the dragons, "I think not."

NegaMorph grinned before Chloe's eyes glowed...and he popped. "Oops, sorry, that was just supposed to be a defenestration," she whispered.

As NegaMorph was regenerating, he got a wireless communication from the computer, "It seems your allies are falling into the trap of power. Accelerating countdown to insure complete mindwipe of all plasma dragons."

"Hey, bad computer, Lynch was always insane," he snapped.

"Corruption of new generation cannot be allowed, please evacuate to safe distance," transmitted the computer.

NegaMorph glared and grew his head back. "Chloe...Silvia...I don't care who. That damn computer's decided to accelerate the party," he snapped.

Chloe immediately started kicking Matt, "C'mon, Matt, we need to move!"

"What?" said Matt, looking confused before a humming was heard.

"Matt, unless you want to lose your memories again, I suggest flying away, now!" snapped Chloe. The other dragons jumped aside as the others shot skyward, some taking off in pursuit.

...

Fortunately, the others had all successfully got out of the city with the eggs safe and sound. The natives were quickly fleeing into the jungle as their city seemed ready to be 'dragged into the underworld'. A translucent energy field was slowly rising to form a dome. "Get out...dammit," muttered Techo.

The dragons were also worried, especially Starflame. _"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon,"_ she said desperately, _"You have to get out. You can't just leave me here."_

A trooper ran up. "Techo...getting computer activi-ARRGH!" he began before a blast shot through him, several turrets unfolding from the nearby ground. Fortunately, most of the turrets weren't aiming at them. They were aiming at the several plasma dragons that were trying to fly out of the city. The remaining turrets were firing on the gang.

Kala/Starflame shot to sense when one blast shot past one of the eggs, sending it rolling along the ground. She quickly ran after the egg, especially since it was rolling towards the river. As it was, she barely managed to grab it in time. _"Oh...that was close,"_ she muttered.

She checked the egg over for any damages. She spotted a few hairline cracks, probably from being sent rolling. But they didn't look very deep and they probably wouldn't hurt the hatchling inside, right? Suddenly, she could hear movement from within the egg as well as feel something to starting to push out against the shell.

_"Aw...so cute,"_ she said to herself before part of her brain quickly supplied what she was doing, _"No, bad egg, stop hatching, it's not time for you to be hatching."_ A claw popped out at that, Kala facepawing and saying, _"Really, it's not worth coming out."_

However, the hatchling would not be denied as the side near the claw cracked open. Soon after that, a damp form crawled out of the eggshell. It was most definitely a dragon, though it had no traces of horns, spines, or even any teeth. The baby dragon looked up Kala with barely-open eyes and made a high-pitched squeaking sound.

Kala twitched at that. _"No...not gonna...not gonna...ARGH...TOO CUTE!"_ she whimpered. Unable to resist any further, she nuzzled the dragonling and said, _"Welcome to the world, little one."_

...

Matt and Chloe however were heading up as fast as possible as blasts shot around them. Every so often they'd hear a yell as one of the other following dragons was tagged but all they focused on was the shrinking hole that was the shield.

"We're not gonna make it!" cried Matt.

"Yes we will, keep flying!" snapped Chloe.

"What kind of shield is this?" asked NegaMorph who was flapping close behind them.

"Do we want to know?" snapped Matt.

"Well, if it's a basic hard-light field, I might be able to keep it open long enough," said NegaMorph.

"JUST GO!" snapped Matt, a shot nearly taking his wing off.

NegaMorph quickly fired several bolts of negative energy at the rims of the closing exit as well as throwing his shadow through. The shield shuddered and continued to close but it allowed the trio to fly through.

Matt looked back to see one of the followers hit the field, and be reduced to dust. "Fly and don't look back!" he called, shielding his eyes as a glow began to build.

"Any idea where the others are?" asked Chloe.

"We can find them later!" snapped NegaMorph.

They were forced to stop and cover their eyes as the mind wipe bomb went off, light filling the dome before fading again. Chloe uncovered her eyes and asked, "Ok, everyone remember who they are?"

"Huh? Who are you?" asked Matt, a blank look on his face.

Chloe yelped until she saw Matt grinning and she growled. "I hate you...hey, I can see the guys," she said, looking down.

"Good, let's go check on the loot, I mean, eggs," said NegaMorph.

...

As soon as the bomb had detonated, the cannons had shut down. Luckily nobody had been seriously hurt, even the shot trooper having survived thanks to his gear. A quick inventory was taken, the gold they had gotten was still there, but one of the eggs was missing. However, it was quickly found, but not in the same state as when it was last seen.

"What the hell? They hatch fast," said Wilson, peering in and to his credit, not flinching when Starflame's mouth snapped shut an inch from his nose.

"They've probably been held in stasis a long time," said Chip, "They're probably all ready to hatch, they're just awaiting the stimulation."

"Ah crap...an...oh no," said Wilson, looking past to see the other eggs starting to move.

"Ok, someone needs to figure out how to get the stasis fields back up," said Matt, "I can't watch over one baby dragon, let alone dozens."

"Ok, I'll pull a graviton reactor out of my ARSE!" snapped Techo.

"Guys, let's all just calm..." said Contrinus before everything started to slow down.

"I think...you have the...right idea," said a familiar voice.

Matt and Chloe turned to see Cydra and Mr. Black. "Well, it was pretty close, but you've managed to succeed with your mission after all," said Cydra.

"Indeed. I owe you a favor," said Mr. Black.

"And I at least owe you an apology," said Cydra, "I must admit I was more strict than I should have been. This whole valley is a landmark representing the traits among mortals that I deem the worst: avarice, zealotry, complete disregard for other forms of sapient life. I have let my moral outrage get the better of me."

"I know how you feel...I personally think we should have blown the city apart," said Mr. Black coldly.

"But now the plasma dragons have been given another chance for redemption. I hope this is the last one that they need," said Cydra.

"Fine...we can safely get them to Avalar with some...improvisation," said Mr. Black in a bored tone, saying, "These latest guardians need to be kept on their talons anyway."

"Er, you are aware that one of those dragons is newly arrived," said Chloe, pointing towards Starflame and the hatchling.

Cydra glanced towards them and said, "So I see. How recently did that one egg hatch?"

"Five minutes," said Draco calmly, despite the plasma blast he'd received when he had peered in...a plasma blast from the kid who had grinned evilly.

"Ah, within plenty of time," said Cydra, "This shall take only a few moments." His right arm started rearranging as the sleeve of his cloak slid back. When finished, his arm looked like some sort of slender ray gun. "This shall be interesting for you to watch," said Cydra before aiming his arm at the hatching and emitting energy rings from it. The hatchling started moving oddly and quickly and it took a while for Matt and Chloe to realize it was moving in reverse. Soon the hatchling crawled back into the eggshell which sealed itself back up. Cydra stopped when the egg was whole and said, "I normally don't do that kind of thing. It tends to mess up clocks dreadfully."

"That's probably not your main problem," said Matt, stepping aside.

Cydra looked confused. "What are talking -MMMMPH "he said as Starflame did, to Matt, a very experiment-like thing and chomped Cydra's head.

Mr. Black just watched with a smirk. "For being in control of time...sometimes he fails to think ahead."

"There's still another problem," said Chloe.

"Your altered dragon forms. They should revert to their normal states within a few days. But if you're so anxious to be 'normal'..." said Mr. Black before snapping his fingers. In a flash, Matt and Chloe were back to their regular dragon forms.

Matt glared. "As nice as it is to be normal again...well as normal as I can be...WHERE'S KALA, YOU JACKASS?" snapped Matt, roaring in Mr. Black's face and, with a finger snap, being turned into a small windup toy.

Despite the dragon roaring in his face an instant ago, Mr. Black only raised an eyebrow and said, "You haven't figured it out? I would have thought it would be quite obvious, even for you."

Cydra said in a muffled voice, "No...spoilers..." before Starflame spat him and proceeded to page two of experiment revenge: jumping up and down on him.

"Let me guess," said Chloe coldly, "More of your Ancient laws preventing you from telling us."

"No, it's basic relationship building," said Mr. Black, "If you were aware, you'd agree that it would be better for both Matt and Kala if he figured it out on his own."

"Erm...your buddy's getting flatter," said Techo before adding, "And can you turn the boss back please? The cymbals are causing the red mist to descend."

Cydra seemed to dissipate into a cloud of nanites between one of Kala's jumps and swarmed away, leaving Kala to land on solid ground. Cydra reformed and said, "You have a very spirited dragon here." He rubbed Kala on the forehead, nobody noticing the slightly blue glow emanating from his head.

_'If you jump on me one more time, programmers help me...look, he'll find out eventually. Me and Black know some people who could help. I wonder if she's still got my number?'_ said Cydra thoughtfully through a temporary telepathic communication.

_'__Why can't I be changed back right now?'_ demanded Kala.

_'__There is a reason for you being in this form,'_ said Cydra, _'You have an important role to play here and that requires you to be a Night Fury. But you shall not always be one. Once you leave this world, you'll soon be restored.'_

_'__I hate you,'_ said Kala darkly causing Cydra to make a grin smiley appear on his main screen. Unfortunately, Kala didn't share Cydra's sense of humor and blasted his main screen, causing his head to seemingly shatter.

"Ok...ow," said Cydra annoyed before heading over to Mr. Black who was chuckling.

"I would have warned you had you listened," he said.

"There's still the matter of the other bouncing baby dragons about to hatch," said Chloe.

"Oh, that?" said Cydra dryly before aiming his raygun arm and sending waves of energy over the eggs which immediately stopped wobbling. "Stasis field restored," said Cydra, "That shall keep them in their eggs until you're ready."

Mr. Black nodded and clicked his fingers, the eggs vanishing. "There...done..." he said icily.

"You know, Matt, there haven't been that many plasma Shar-Khan," commented Cydra, "There are some who see your particular elemental affiliation as a sigh of prophecy."

"Kinda guesse,." said Matt bored.

"Of course, most of it is just hogwash, but I think the one most likely to become reality is the one about you becoming patriarch of the plasma dragons," said Cydra.

Matt choked at that. "Whagferjgff..." he managed before passing out, Chloe glaring "Great...you broke him. Happy now?"

"Relax, he's nowhere near ready for that, not within the next few years," said Cydra, "Kala, maybe, but definitely not him."

"Great, now just go. We've already got to explain to the kids why I'm suddenly yellow again and why the eggs dematerialized," said Chloe.

"You may need to explain more than that," said Cydra before he and Mr. Black vanished. Right after that, time returned to its normal pace.

Hiccup and the others all looked around confused. "Hey...where'd the eggs go?" said Astrid.

"They've been handed off to someone who'll take good care of them," said Chloe.

Hiccup nodded. Given they were space dragons, it made sense that Matt n co would know people who could look after them. The natives however were staring at Matt and bowing like crazy, despite the fact he was still out cold

Chloe sighed and said, "I'm not in the mood for worshipping right now," before changing back to her human form.

"Hey, did you do something with your hair?" asked Morph.

Chloe looked down at herself. Everything was there...armor...weapons...her favorite grenade...but... "Ok...what's it done to me?" she said dully, saving up the unfettered fury for the next minute.

"Actually, there is something different about your hair," said Chip. Chloe held her hair in front of her face to look at it. It seemed like its normal black, but when the light hit it, there was a noticeable dark blue sheen to it.

...

In the gap between realities…

Cydra and Mr. Black stopped their game of Call of Duty (hey...even omnipresent energy beings got bored) as a shriek echoed through reality. "Chloe," they both said in unison.

"You think we're being too cruel to them?" asked Cydra.

"Of course not. We need to have some kind of entertainment...HAH...headshot!" said Mr. Black as he zapped Cydra's ingame avatar.

* * *

Another chapter up. This time, we've gone across the Atlantic to Aztec territory and did a bit of their mythology. Admittedly, El Dorado is more Incan than Aztec, but Aztec's more fun to do. Not to mention it's a reference to another Dreamworks film, the Road to El Dorado. We also did a bit of a backstory for Matt's plasma dragon form. For those of you who don't know, Avalar is the name of the world where the Spyro series takes place, specifically the Legend of Spyro trilogy.

Anyways, there may be a delay in updating the next chapter, namely due to working out some of the kinks in the plot and such. Until it's up, check out my co-author's stories for more information on their history of Avalar and please review.


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